Security & Defense

Obama Missile Defense Blunder

By David Smith

The U.S. decision to cancel deployment of a ballistic missile defense system in Central Europe in favor of boosting shorter-range defenses creates immediate policy problems for the Obama administration

Missile Defense Rollout Rushed

By James Joyner

The rollout of President Obama’s new missile defense policy was “compressed” because news was leaking and leading to rampant speculation, Alexander “Sandy” Vershbow, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs told an Atlantic Council conference call this morning. As a result, there was “not as much consultation” with our allies in Poland and the […]

Obama Missile Move: Smart Power Reset

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

For some armchair strategists, President Obama’s decision to scrap the Bush 43 plan to deploy ballistic missile defense hardware in Poland and the Czech Republic was rank appeasement that would merely sharpen the Russian bear’s appetite for more unilateral concessions that could only weaken America’s defense posture. That was sound Cold War thinking. And for […]

Missile Defense Debrief

The Honorable Alexander Vershbow, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, joined the Atlantic Council for an exclusive teleconference briefing on the Obama administration’s decision to pursue alternative technologies and architectures for missile defense in Europe.

Transcript: Missile Defense Debrief

Full transcript of the September 22, 2009 conference call featuring The Honorable Alexander Vershbow, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly, Director of the Missile Defense Agency.

Missile Defense: What Scowcroft Missed

By Adrian Karatnycky

Brent Scowcroft has issued a strong statement of support for President Obama’s decision to scrap George Bush’s planned missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of a sea-based system.  General Scowcroft, however, elides the main point. While there may be a strong case in favor of the Aegis alternative, the announcement should […]

Brzezinski Endorses Obama Missile Decision, Slams Rollout

By James Joyner

Yesterday, I noted that Brent Scowcroft supports President Obama’s missile defense decision.  Another distinguished member of our International Advisory Board,  Zbigniew Brzezinski, has voiced his support as well — albeit in an extremely colorful manner that’s not particularly flattering to the president.