Such criticism is not uncommon among outside experts (and) administration officials who believe that Mr. Kerry too often pursues unwinnable goals and settles for imperfect outcomes. But there has been something honorable, even heroic, about the persistence, hard work and faith in diplomacy that this decorated Vietnam veteran…has brought to his search for peaceful solutions.
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Meddling from Moscow?
Posted September 8th, 2016 at 9:57 am (UTC-5)
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Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned Russia against meddling with the “democratic process” in the U.S. and other Western nations.
Carter’s warning comes on the heels of a Washington Post report that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are looking into what Russia might be doing to interfere with the American election.
The F.B.I. is already looking into whether Russians were behind the computer hack of Democratic National Committee computers. Intelligence agencies know Russian hackers tried to get into those computers last year. Russian president Vladimir Putin denied the accusations, but said the WikiLeaks revelations of the DNC documents was a public service.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is making this a campaign issue, trying to link her Republican foe, Donald Trump, to Russia and Putin
How much of an issue is this? How can Russia manipulate the election?
The Looming Air Superiority Train Wreck
Posted August 31st, 2016 at 4:19 pm (UTC-5)
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America is on track to lose air supremacy in contingencies involving near-peer air combat….In a 2030 war, the U.S. Air Force, after assessing currently funded improvement programs, now expects to no longer be able to win the air superiority battle.
The Ever Tenuous Alliance Between the U.S. and Turkey
Posted August 10th, 2016 at 4:27 pm (UTC-5)
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As Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to mend fences with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the rift between Ankara and Washington seemed to widen a little more.
Turkey’s Justice Minister fired verbal a warning shot to the United States: hand over cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey claims was behind a July coup attempt, or risk sacrificing America’s relationship with its NATO ally.
Gulen has been living in self-exile in the U.S. since 1999. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau says extraditing Gulen is a “legal, technical process…governed by a 1981 extradition treaty.”
Turkey and Russia have been on opposite ends of the war in Syria, magnified in November when a Russian warplane that strayed into Turkish airspace was shot down. Now, foreign policy experts are trying to read the tea leaves from the Erdogan-Putin get together.
Trump, Putin and NATO
Posted July 29th, 2016 at 11:42 am (UTC-5)
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by James Kirchick Once again, Donald Trump has unsettled America’s allies and brought joy to its adversaries. In an interview last week with the New York Times, the Republican Party presidential nominee reiterated his shoddy understanding of how international alliances and deterrence strategy work. Asked if the United States would come to the defense of […]
All Cards on the Table: First-Use of Nuclear Weapons
Posted July 25th, 2016 at 11:47 am (UTC-5)
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First of all, we should stop believing that nuclear deterrence is Cold War thinking by people who want to retain Cold War weapon systems….Second, if the United States were to de-alert its nuclear forces, what message would re-alerting them send to an adversary during a crisis situation?
A World Awash in Change
Posted July 12th, 2016 at 11:35 am (UTC-5)
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There is a global effort opposed to the longstanding state system for bringing order to the world. [T]here are more refugees today than at any time since the end of World War II. All this is in sharp contrast to the economic and security commons that coalesced as the Cold War came to an end.
From Russia With Hate
Posted July 1st, 2016 at 10:07 am (UTC-5)
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Russian citizens — many of whom are Chechens or Dagestanis from the largely Muslim North Caucasus region of Russia — are the largest group of foot soldiers in ISIS from a non-Muslim majority country, and they have played key roles in the group.
Olympics Anti-Doping Leap
Posted June 22nd, 2016 at 4:04 pm (UTC-5)
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Sports involves not only a contest to establish winners but as a measure of the ability of humans to transcend physical and mental limits. Athletes must rely on natural abilities, such as agility and concentration, not special chemicals. And they must be able to operate on a level playing field to ensure honest competition.
Ukraine, 25 Years From Now
Russia’s false narrative of the history and destiny of the eastern Slavs as one in which all others must resign themselves to living under Muscovite hegemony must be constantly challenged and rebutted, especially in the West.