Latest Briefings
Tonight, Ask About Foreign Policy
February 22, 2012
With intense focus on tonight’s GOP presidential debate, the candidates have moved to bring national security back into the headlines. This weekend, Newt Gingrich made news by saying, “Defeating Barack Obama becomes, in fact, a duty of national security.” This flies in the face of bipartisan experts’ views and public opinion. But it does offer [...]
Taking Another Look at the Nuclear Arsenal
February 21, 2012
As a bipartisan majority of living secretaries of defense and state as well as national security advisers encourages the president to make another round of cuts in our nuclear arsenal, the White House has tasked the Pentagon with a nuclear posture review of the kind carried out by its predecessors. Reports indicate that the Pentagon [...]
Budgeting for Strategy, Investing for Jobs
February 16, 2012
Military leaders emphasized this week that the military budget unveiled Monday is “what’s best for America” – they helped craft that budget based on our national security needs. The reductions in spending are modest, and they flow from the Budget Control Act, which was passed by Congress in a bipartisan fashion. Reducing the growth of [...]
Defining US Interests in Syria
February 15, 2012
As the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad continues its brutal crackdown on protesters, a very broad range of U.S. responses is being debated. Start with core U.S. interests: Syria matters. It is strategically located; potentially a key to regional stability or chaos and humanitarian catastrophe; a source of pressure on Iran; and a symbol [...]
Meeting China’s Next Leader
February 14, 2012
Both the U.S. and China will go through leadership transitions in 2012. Whoever leads each country, a U.S.- China relationship based on mutual interests and mutual respect will remain as important to our security and economic interests as it has been since President Nixon’s epochal trip to Beijing 40 years ago this month. This week, [...]
Congress and Iran Policy
February 13, 2012
With today’s announcement by Iran that it might “fully operationalize” its Fordo facility over the coming days and claims by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that Iran is responsible for attacks on Israeli embassies abroad, it is time for a calm look at the best strategy for dealing with Iran. The administration and Congress together need options at [...]
Politics, Claims and Counter-Claims: How to Evaluate the Budget
February 9, 2012
Monday’s release of the administration’s budget request for 2013 will feature piles of documents and layers of political claims and counter-claims. To evaluate them, ask whether proposals meet three tests: The need for spending that secures the economy that undergirds our security as well as keeps us safe. The need for spending priorities that are [...]
Romney’s Defense Spending Plans
February 8, 2012
As the White House prepares to release its budget on Monday, the next few days will likely see conservatives criticizing current plans for military spending while outlining their own views. Experts say attacks are more about politics than security-particularly since the budget numbers grow from a plan that was passed by Congress and paired with [...]
In Iran, Outcomes or Outcry?
February 7, 2012
Reporting that Israel is considering military strikes against Iran this spring, and continued calls from some conservatives for the U.S. to take military action have brought strong responses, including from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rogers and even Iranian opposition figures. These diverse figures – along with a range of bipartisan [...]
The U.S. Role in the Arab Spring
February 6, 2012
This week, core American values are front and center in the Middle East, where activists are risking arrest in Egypt and death in Syria in seeking to build their own democracies. These values are intertwined with important U.S. interests – regional unity in dealing with Iran, the free flow of energy, the security of Israel [...]
