Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Defense Procurement Politics: F-35 Backup Boondoggle

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is one of the most respected voices in Washington. Which is why it was so surprising to hear the Senator come out in support of a defense project that is opposed by the military, the secretary of defense, and by President Obama, as being expensive and unnecessary. The project is a […]

China’s Post-Crisis Economic Rebalancing

By Pieter Bottelier

Years from now, we may look back at 2009 and see that it marked a critical turning point in China’s economic development strategy. The global financial crisis deprived China of a paradigm for economic development, casting strong doubts about western countries’ abilities to restore growth momentum while sustaining domestic fiscal and international financial stability. For […]

WikiLeaks Aftermath

By Shuja Nawaz

IN STAND-UP comedy and politics, timing is critical. There was nothing “funny ha-ha’’ about the recent leak of US documents about the Afghanistan war implicating Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence agency. But there was plenty of what the British call “funny peculiar’’ for sure. The leaks followed a period of growing confidence of the ISI […]

Shock and Awe Against Jihadists

By Harlan Ullman

August marks the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Japan. On Aug. 6, 1945, a B-29 named “Enola Gay” dropped “Little Boy,” a nuclear device with the equivalent of 10-15 kilotons of TNT that destroyed Hiroshima. Three days later, after Japan’s War Cabinet voted to continue the war, another B-29 launched “Fat Man” on […]

Afghanistan Oversight Failures

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The questions go back and forth between the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Eikenberry, who was once the military  commander in Afghanistan; and Special Envoy for "AFPAK" Richard C. Holbrooke, usually airborne

Restructuring for Long-Term Threats

By Stephen Hadley and William Perry

For the past six months, we led a bipartisan panel of former national security and military leaders in reviewing the document laying out the Defense Department’s plans for the next 20 years. The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) released this year was prepared by a Pentagon focused on responding to the threats America faces and winning […]

A Warm Westerly Wind Toward Georgia?

By David Smith

As if driven to Georgia by Zephyrus, ancient god of the westerly wind, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton arrived here in the turn of two weeks.  Their visits and encouraging words indicate that a new westerly wind is blowing.

Gusher of WikiLeaks

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The WikiLeaks scandal isn’t even a pale carbon copy of the Pentagon Papers 39 years ago that accelerated America’s Vietnam defeat. But even then there was nothing that wasn’t known by the war correspondents covering Vietnam. Deception and disinformation were part of the U.S. arsenal. And the daily afternoon military briefing was known as the […]

Possible Deliverables at OSCE Summit in Kazakhstan: Part 2

By Vladimir Socor

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is the primary international organization in charge of resolving the Transnistria conflict since 1993. This task forms the basis, and sole raison d’etre, of the OSCE Moldova Mission’s mandate. Russian veto power, however, has prevented the OSCE from making any headway there. Any document on Moldova […]

Germany Can’t Afford Military Conscription

By James Joyner

Germany’s new coalition government has cut the period military conscripts must serve from nine months to six. And there’s a fair chance they’ll end mandatory service altogether. It’s about time. There’s little doubt that the draft has long ended its military usefulness. The United States has relied on an all-volunteer force since 1973 and almost […]

EU Hydra: Which Head to Talk To?

By Matthew Czekaj

Since the ratification of the EU Lisbon Treaty, a new joke has been circulating in Brussels: in response to Henry Kissinger’s inquiry as to who to call to speak to ‘Europe,’ that number finally exists.

Possible Deliverables at OSCE Summit in Kazakhstan: Part 1

By Vladimir Socor

Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE, to be crowned by the summit of 56 heads of state in Astana, can hardly ignore Russia’s challenges to the post-Cold War international order (EDM, July 27). Fortuitously, Kazakhstan’s chairmanship and the summit coincide with round anniversaries of the OSCE’s fundamental documents: the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the 1990 […]

Afghanistan’s Four Musketeers

By Harlan Ullman

The episode that led to the resignation of U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan has created an opportunity for constructing the foundation for a more stable region. Much will rest on the four U.S. flag and general officers with overarching responsibilities for the region and whether their […]

Sweden Developing Greater Regional Defense Role

By Magnus Nordenman

In August the sunny calm and quiet that is a Swedish summer will be shattered by the impact of Joint Direct Attack Munitions dropped by F-16CM Fighting Falcons from US Air Force Europe.

Secrecy and Strategy in Afghanistan

By Bernard Finel

I don’t condone leaking secrets. But nor do I condone a policy that can only work in secret. Yes, there are some narrow tactical initiatives that make sense as covert action. But, even then, secrecy is a wasting asset, and any strategy that requires secrecy in the long-term is likely doomed to failure. Our strategy […]

Moscow Uses Anti-Iran Sanctions as Bargaining Leverage on Washington

By Vladimir Socor

To hinder Iran’s uranium-enrichment program, the US has introduced sanctions that bar deliveries of gasoline and other refined oil products to Iran. The European Union is following the US lead in this case. Russia’s initial response is calculated to suggest that it does not consider itself bound

Elvis bin Laden

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The "Veterans Today" Network, a one-man show on the Internet created and run by Gordon Duff, a 100 percent disabled Marine Vietnam veteran, states flatly that 9/11 was a CIA/Mossad conspiracy and that Osama bin Laden wasn’t involved and died in 2001. This can easily be dismissed as yet another example of deliberately disseminated disinformation […]

Afghanistan Leaks Reignite Debate, Undermine Security

By James Joyner

The early consensus, thankfully, is that the leak of 92,000-odd classified intelligence documents contain little information of note to close observers.   As Tufts professor Daniel Drezner snarks, "So it turns out that the war in Afghanistan is not going well and Pakistan is playing a double game?  Well, knock me down with a feather!!" […]

Khakis over civvies: Posturing in Pakistan and India

By Barkha Dutt