In the lead up to the historic May 11 elections, the Pakistani Taliban (also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP) and other radical Islamist groups are attacking Pakistani parties that they deem too “secular”—mainly parties in the ruling coalition. The TTP are using high-profile terror attacks as a strategic …
The chorus of those calling for the resignation of Richard Falk from his position with the U.N. Human Rights Council is growing ever louder. Falk is the U.N. official who last week penned an essay reprinted in Foreign Policy Journal, essentially blaming U.S. foreign policy for the terrorist bombing of …
The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a United Nations peacekeeping force to Mali, the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). The U.N. has previously avoided such peacekeeping missions, and with good reason. Some of the U.N.’s darkest hours were the result of peacekeeping missions sent in the absence …
Senator John McCain (R–AZ) bombarded top U.S. commander in Afghanistan General Joseph Dunford at a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with tough questions when he refused to give a concrete recommendation on the post-2014 U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan: Don’t you understand, general, that…one of the reasons why we’re …
The Boston Marathon bombers have brought greater attention to Russia’s volatile North Caucasus, their ancestral home. As painful their heinous acts are, however, the bombers’ actions are just a footnote to the history of insurgency and connections to global Islamist networks in the North Caucasus. The North Caucasus has a …
In a recent article in National Review, Heritage distinguished fellow and former Senator Jim Talent (R–MO) explains that the U.S. military is facing a troubling future. Talent describes how “every category of primary risk to American security is growing.” China is displaying increasing boldness in defense of its disputed territorial …
The Pentagon has recently requested more than $220 million in fiscal year (FY) 2014 to support Israel’s air defense system, known as “Iron Dome.” The Missile Defense Agency likewise requested an additional $175 million for FY 2015. Funding Iron Dome is in the interest of America’s closest ally in the …
As details emerge regarding Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s 2012 trip to Dagestan and Chechnya, which his family has insisted was merely to visit with relatives, fresh questions arise as to how that trip may have influenced either his motivation or preparation for the Boston Marathon bombings. The frequency with which American-born or …
Canadian police announced on Monday that they had arrested two foreign men plotting to derail a passenger train and who had received some unspecified form of support from al-Qaeda personnel based in Iran. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that Raed Jasser, a 35-year-old Palestinian living in Toronto, and Chiheb …