Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Transcript: Missile Defense in Europe – Panel 3

Full transcript of the third panel entitled “The Way Forward with Moscow” at the 2009 missile defense conference “Missile Defense in Europe: Next Steps.”

Transcript: Missile Defense in Europe – Ellen Tauscher

Full transcript of Ellen Tauscher’s remarks and discussion at the 2009 missile defense conference “Missile Defense in Europe: Next Steps.”

Transcript: Missile Defense in Europe – Michael Turner

Full transcript of Representative Michael Turner’s remarks and discussion at the 2009 missile defense conference “Missile Defense in Europe: Next Steps.”

Afghanistan: Barriers to State Building

By Don Snow

Assume for argument’s sake that the war in Afghanistan can be “won”: objectives can be formulated that are acceptable to all parties and through a combination of political and military actions, the opposition can be vanquished. If the war is won, however, will the peace be won or lost?

Making Nuclear Weapons Impotent and Obsolete

By Harlan Ullman

On March 23, 1983, in a speech to the nation announcing the Strategic Defense Initiative, U.S. President Ronald Reagan pledged to make “nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.” The left immediately attacked Reagan and his initiative was ridiculed as “Star Wars.” Ironically, President Barack Obama is on his way to making good on Reagan’s pledge. And […]

Dining with a Dictator

By Andrew Kessinger

Very rarely are mere students afforded the chance to meet with heads of state. So when invited to dine with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week, I accepted.

First Annual Members’ Conference – The Next Phase of the Strategic Partnership with China

By James Joyner

Summary of the breakout conversation “China – The Next Phase of the Strategic Partnership” at the 2009 Annual Members’ Conference. PARTICIPANTS: Hon. J. Stapleton Roy, Former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Mr. Ruan Zongze, Minister Counselor, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to the United States Mr. David Shear, Deputy Assistant […]

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

Afghanistan: The Intervention Dilemma

By Don Snow

The military dimension of the counterinsurgency in Afghanistan requires establishing a high enough degree of security in the country that the Afghan people will transfer their loyalty away from the Taliban (or will feel adequately unthreatened by the likelihood of a Taliban return to express opposition to the insurgents). As noted in a previous posting […]

Obama Having Buyer’s Remorse in Afghanistan?

By James Joyner

Obama administration officials are now admitting what has been apparent for weeks: that they are giving serious consideration to radically downsizing the Afghanistan mission.  That this comes only months after unveiling a substantially different strategy to great fanfare is naturally raising questions.

Afghanistan Victory: Translating Goals into Strategy

By Don Snow

Assuming the counterinsurgent partners (in this case, the Afghan and American governments) can agree on a desired outcome that consititutes its version of the better state of the peace (BSOP), the next question is how to achieve that condition? This means determining what political and military conditions must exist to be able to declare the […]

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 […]

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.