war

Trump Team Debates Response to Strikes on Saudi Oil

2019-09-18

Pentagon is cautious as Riyadh requests additional U.S. forces.

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Myths of Kashmir

2019-09-06

India is wedged between two nuclear-armed allies that routinely defy fundamental international rules and norms. Until China and Pakistan stop trying to undermine...

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How Likely Is It That the United States Will Begin Backchannel Talks With the Houthis?

2019-09-06

A regular survey of experts on matters relating to Middle Eastern and North African politics and security.

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Two Systems, One World

2019-09-05

Like the twentieth-century Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the new rivalry between China and the West is a contest between fundamentally incompatible political systems.

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Speaking Truth to Power

2019-08-09

Many partisans accused President George W. Bush of lying and pressuring the intelligence community to produce intelligence to justify a war that Bush had already chosen

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Quieting the Home Front

2019-08-03

Saudi Arabia has used a variety of means to neutralize domestic opposition to the war in Yemen.

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Iran’s threats are an attempt to negotiate

2019-08-01

Iranian officials now appear to be negotiating and rather than using back-channels, they are doing it in plain sight.

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From Moon Walk to Space Wars

2019-07-22

It is easy to get caught up in escalating strategic competition and conflict on Earth. But, 50 years after the Apollo 11 mission reached the Moon

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Trump Couldn’t Ignore the Contradictions of His Foreign Policy Any Longer

2019-07-07

To understand where we are and where we are going, we must first understand where we have been. Trump became president with a set of deeply rooted visceral instincts about the world—hostility to alliances, skepticism of free trade, and support for authori

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US Launches Cyberattacks on Iran

2019-06-26

It appears that the United States launched cyberattacks on Iran in response to that nations shooting down of an American drone aircraft.

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U.S. Arms Sales to the Gulf Have Failed

2019-06-22

Despite spending billions of dollars on hardware, our regional partners do not have the capabilities we need.

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Deterrence in Cyberspace

2019-06-12

Understanding deterrence in cyberspace is often difficult, because our minds remain captured by an image of deterrence shaped by the Cold War

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The missing piece in Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ Iran campaign

2019-06-02

Washington should use its military soft-power to help Iranians and further drive a wedge between Iranians and the IRGC as well as isolate the IRGC ideologues within the system.

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Does Iran have a Secret Weapon?

2019-05-21

There is considerable turmoil and confusion in the Gulf region. Several oil tankers have been damaged and the prime suspect according to some U.S. pundits is sabotage by Iran...

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India and Pakistan: Living on Borrowed Time

2019-03-29

For the first time this century, Indian fighter jets struck deep inside Pakistani territory, targeting camps operated by notorious terrorists.

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The Iraq War Is a Cautionary Tale for Theresa May’s Brexit Dilemma

2019-03-16

The British prime minister must choose between politics and principle when it comes to pulling her country out of the European Union. Tony Blair’s experience offers a lesson.

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Let’s Withdraw from Afghanistan, and Learn the Hard Lessons

2019-03-11

A new joint resolution introduced in the Senate calls on the executive branch to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan within one year...

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Problem-Plagued Pakistan Faces Incredible Challenges Beyond Its Rivalry with India

2019-03-11

Pakistan fears two things more than war with India: pressure from Washington and indifference from Beijing...

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Russian - Ukrainian Incident Increases International Tension

2018-12-02

The success of this week’s G-20 meeting is threatened by the increasing tensions between the Ukraine and Russia.

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Will Russia’s S-300 Missile System Increase Tensions in Syria?

2018-10-01

Russia will transfer two to four S 300 air defense missile systems to Syria within the next two weeks

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Israel’s Secret War Against Iran Is Widening

2018-09-23

Israel has fully joined the battle in Syria—but it’s not clear it can achieve any of its goals there.

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Situation Continues to Heat up in and Around Syria

2018-09-23

What happened and how will these incidents impact the ongoing fighting in Syria?

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Syria, American Policy, and Assassination

2018-09-10

Trump wanted to have the Syrian president assassinated last year but his defense secretary ignored the request

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Strategic Insights: Revolutionary Change Is Coming to Strategic Leadership

2018-09-04

Clausewitz famously observed that war has an enduring nature and a changing character that evolves over time as technology, society, economics, and politics shift. This observation also applies to strategic leadership: it too has an enduring nature and a

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