In The News

Afghan Peace Needs a Map

Li Qinggong October 8, 2009
The war in Afghanistan has become mired by a lack of strategic vision on the part of the Western alliance amid turmoil both in the country and abroad. In an article published in China’s official China Daily, Li Qinggong, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Council for National Security Policy Studies notes, the war is a “source of ceaseless turbulence” that has not brought peace, security, or...

Nuclear Challenge from Pakistan and Iran – Part II

Leonard S. Spector October 7, 2009
Iran’s surprise revelation of a nuclear facility near the city of Qom was not such a surprise given that Western intelligence agents already knew of the site. The consensus analysis was that Iran revealed the existence of the site precisely because it had been discovered. But Leonard S. Spector, Director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, believes the revelation was...

The Other Ticking Clock in Iran

Christian Caryl October 7, 2009
While Iran's nuclear program draws headlines around the world, a less widely known arms acquisition by Iran has been underway that would produce its own global ramifications. Since 2005, Iran has been in negotiations with Russia to acquire an advanced missile-defense system capable of striking incoming ballistic missiles and even stealth aircrafts. But Russia has stalled delivery to Tehran...

General's Review Creates Rupture

Karen DeYoung September 22, 2009
US Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s report on Afghanistan has divided Republicans and Democrats as President Obama requests more time to ensure the US has the right strategy in the embattled nation. McChrystal concluded that the US’ effort in Afghanistan would likely fail without more troops. Such an assessment jibes with the growing sophistication of Taliban attacks and US troop casualties in the...

Obama’s Missile Defense Change Shows Different Targets

Tomas Valasek September 21, 2009
Obama’s decision not to build a missile defense base in the Czech Republic and Poland presents new challenges and risks to the European theater. First, according to Director at the Center for European Reform Tomas Valasek, it risks rewarding Russia for its truculence in the hopes of getting the country to support the US in tempering Iran. Second, while the plan to use a sea-based shield may...

What Motivates the Suicide Bombers?

Riaz Hassan September 3, 2009
The heart-wrenching and horrible daily accounts of suicide bombings rarely reveal the underlying cause of the bombers’ motivations. But a comprehensive database at Australia’s Flinders University that has compiled information on these types of attacks from as early as 1981 can shed light on such motivations. And the conclusions are startling, Professor Riaz Hassan, author of a forthcoming book on...

Afghanistan’s Election Matters as Much for the Country as for the World

Bruce Riedel August 27, 2009
Afghanistan’s presidential election could provide a critical update on the progress of the war in that country, writes Bruce Riedel, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. That is, it should reveal the strength of the Taliban insurgency relative to the success of the US and NATO. The US and NATO appear to have an upper hand given that the Taliban were unsuccessful in disrupting the election...