Daily Update

Partisan Republican Actions Damaging U.S. National Security March 11, 2015 The letter on the Iran negotiations by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), signed by 46 of his Senate Republican colleagues, is the latest and most blatant example of what is becoming an emerging pattern of Republican partisanship that expressly works to undermine U.S. foreign policy and national security. More than just an embarrassing political stunt, Sen. Cotton’s unprecedented letter will damage U.S. international credibility and weaken the United States’ ability to conclude a deal that would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This willingness to put short-term political goals ahead of U.S. interests has been on display with other Republican initiatives in recent weeks, particularly Speaker of the House John Boehner’s (R-OH) efforts to circumvent… Read More ›

Sen. Cotton’s Reckless Iran Letter: Wrong on Facts, Disingenuous in Intent March 9, 2015 While U.S. negotiators and their P5+1 colleagues prepare to enter a new round of talks over Iran’s nuclear program in Switzerland next weekend, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) released today the text of an open letter to the Iranian government signed by himself and 46 Republican senators. The pedantic letter begins by noting that Iran’s leadership “may not fully understand our constitutional system” before a discussion of treaty ratification and term limits. “[W]e will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke… Read More ›

Why the U.S. Should Not Arm Ukraine Right Now March 6, 2015 Today, members of Congress and outside voices are continuing the push to send lethal aid to Kiev. These calls are ill-timed, especially while a tenuous ceasefire seems to have taken hold pursuant to the Minsk II agreement reached last month between European powers, Ukraine, and Russia. While the future of the ceasefire remains very much in doubt, a decision to send arms to Kiev now would carry more cost than benefits, undermining rather than protecting U.S. and European interests. Top costs include inducing Russian escalation, giving Putin political cover to violate the ceasefire, and undermining transatlantic unity in confronting Moscow’s aggression. Despite these costs, American arms will not empower Kiev to successfully resist… Read More ›

Conservatives Rush to Derail Iran Talks After Netanyahu’s Misleading Speech March 4, 2015 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech laid out Israel’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear program – a concern shared by Congress and the Obama Administration. But while it succeeded in cynically pandering to his home constituency – after the speech, members of Congress called it a “campaign pep rally” and “straight out of the Dick Cheney playbook” – it failed to present a feasible alternative to the Administration’s diplomatic initiative. Instead, the Prime Minister made clear that he misunderstands what sanctions and negotiations can achieve, and what the consequences of these talks could be. Now, Congress is fast-tracking a bill that could scuttle the talks. As this increasingly partisan legislation is rushed to… Read More ›

Why Netanyahu Is Still Wrong on Iran March 3, 2015 This morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will give a contentious address before Congress. Due to the politicization of the speech – Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) did not consult the Obama Administration in inviting Netanyahu, and invited the Prime Minister in the middle of an Israeli election campaign – a quarter of congressional Democrats have announced they will not be attending. But members of Congress don’t need to attend Netanyahu’s speech to know the message he’ll deliver – the Prime Minister has made clear his opposition to any agreement with Iran which would allow it to maintain an enrichment capability. This belief that the international community could negotiate a deal in which Iran would give… Read More ›

Science Over Snowballs: Climate Competence of America’s Leaders is a National Security Issue February 27, 2015 This week, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) took to the Senate floor with a snowball as a prop as part of an argument against the scientific consensus that global climate change is real and that the Earth’s average surface temperature has been increasing rapidly since the industrial revolution. It may be tempting to dismiss the significance of right-wing climate antics as simply misguided. But Sen. Inhofe, who serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, exemplifies the danger of denying climate science given the severe implications that climate change poses to American national security and global stability, as NSN has detailed before. Because of the… Read More ›

Getting to an Effective and Well-Defined AUMF for the Islamic State February 25, 2015 This week, Congress is beginning the process of considering a new authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against the Islamic State. The authorization recently proposed by the White House has positive and negative aspects, as NSN has noted previously. But with additional analysis coming out about the Administration’s proposal and Secretary Kerry’s Senate testimony yesterday, the conversation is advancing and many details deserve closer consideration. First, the extent to which the proposed AUMF would authorize U.S. ground forces is still very unclear. Second, new troubling questions are being raised about the conditions in which the Administration thinks it would have the authority to strike Assad’s forces under a new… Read More ›

As Iran Nuclear Deal Takes Shape, Congress Must Act Carefully February 23, 2015 The P5+1 nuclear negotiations with Iran may be nearing an agreement, according to reports this morning from Vienna. While the details are still unclear, the early speculation is that the deal would effectively lengthen the time it would take Iran to build a nuclear weapon to a point that it could not do so without being detected and stopped by the international community. This would be a huge diplomatic success for the United States. As the talks enter this crucial stage, it is more critical than ever that Congress not pass new legislation that would call into question whether the United States can uphold its commitments under a final deal and potentially… Read More ›

Jeb Bush Lays out Limited Foreign Policy Vision February 20, 2015 On Wednesday, Jeb Bush laid out the foreign policy framework for his anticipated presidential campaign in a speech at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Bush’s remarks covered a broad range of subjects, and while he identified many of the pressing international challenges facing the United States, his remarks lacked clarity or solutions. As the presidential race moves forward, the national security debate will require more depth of understanding on issues including resolving Iran’s nuclear program, addressing the threat from the Islamic State, the fighting in Ukraine, normalizing relations with Cuba, and ongoing Pentagon spending debates, and we will look for candidates that back up emerging positions with effective policies. Bush doesn’t seem to… Read More ›

6 Key Takeaways on Confronting the Islamic State February 18, 2015 Today, the Obama Administration is convening a summit on countering violent extremism. Representatives from more than 60 countries are meeting to discuss ways to prevent radicalization and terrorism. The summit illustrates that fighting terrorist groups like the Islamic State is about more than military strategy in Iraq and Syria. As Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton (Ret.) notes in NSN’s new report, Confronting the Islamic State: An Assessment of U.S. Strategic Options, “the choices facing policymakers are characterized by problems far more complex than fine-tuning a military strategy and the question of boots or no boots on the ground. Counter-ideology, diplomacy, economics, and politics at home and abroad all play a role.”  Nonetheless, most current strategic… Read More ›