The argument that climate change is a long-term security concern is strong (see CNA’s report, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change). The argument is also fairly strong that American power would benefit if the U.S. were to take the lead on innovating energy technology (see Thomas Friedman’s recent column, in which he warns […]
Good friends (Uribe and Obama) vs. Best friends (Uribe and Bush)… Sources: zimbio.com, AP. I have long argued that the Democrats have gotten it wrong on Colombia, by parroting the misinformation about this country and its President, Alvaro Uribe, circulated by US labor unions intent on stopping a free trade agreement between two staunch allies. This is […]
Even sound actions can have negative consequences. That is why in times of crisis, policy makers must remain vigilant. Easing monetary and credit policies last year and keeping them loose made sense. In an effort to avoid the mistakes of the Great Depression, when governments tightened both monetary and fiscal policies, policy makers this time around gave the wounded private sector what it […]
Planet Earth’s critical issue this decade will be whether American power will erode — and if so, what the implications will be for the liberal world order we erected after WWII. The Obama administration’s fiscal stimulus package cum bank bailout, building on the Paulson-Bush-Geithner-Bernanke efforts of 2008 and the unprecedented coordination of economic policy globally, constituted a brilliant, […]
China has a dual economy. There is the modern coastal economy oriented for export that has exploited China’s comparative advantage in labor-intensive manufacturing to generate US$2 trillion in fx reserves; and, there’s the rest — the government-directed economy of bank lending, state-owned enterprises, and massive, massive investment in real estate, roads and other infrastructure. With […]
Reflections of a retired Baby Boomer Topic: Obama and the Intelligence Community On Thursday, President Obama and his staff discussed the findings of their internal review of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack. They concluded there was not a failure to share information such as was seen in the pre 9/11 days; but […]
Another missed-during-holiday-hiatus story worth looking at comes from ArmsControlWonk. Peruse the results of a 2005 survey of nonproliferation experts: More than 78% of respondents agreed that one or two new nations would acquire nuclear weapons during the next five years. More than 89% agreed that between one and three new nuclear nations would emerge during […]
* From Juan Cole – Find out about Andy Worthington’s comprehensive research on Guantanamo detainees. * From Opinio Juris – Find out about the recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on some Guantanamo habeas petitions.
In a pre-Christmas New York Times op-ed, Alan Kuperman wrote about the potential downside to a U.S.-led preventive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities: As for knocking out its nuclear plants, admittedly, aerial bombing might not work. Some Iranian facilities are buried too deeply to destroy from the air. There may also be sites that American […]
Holiday hiatus is now officially over. Much happened over the past two weeks, of course – an attempted terrorist attack against a U.S. commercial airplane, a Chinese prosecution of a dissident, an Iran-Iraq border dispute, an Iranian crackdown on Ashura, the shift of U.S. public attention to Yemen which, as a New York Times op-ed […]
Note: I wrote this opinion piece last week but was unable to load on the web site due to problems with my travel computer. Reflections of a retired Baby Boomer Topic: Pregnant Soldiers When I woke up the day after Christmas and checked the morning news, I was very happy to hear, […]
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