An Opportunity to Work with Iran Laicie Heeley This August, Hassan Rouhani will take office as Iran’s next president, and the world will have a new face to confront on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program. Rouhani, a moderate cleric, won a landslide victory in Iran’s June presidential elections. He’ll replace the inflammatory Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, […]
The Sequel’s Not Any Better: Why the US Should Be Wary of Pyongyang’s Shift in Rhetoric
Let’s start this post off with a pop culture confession: I didn’t like The Hangover. I realize that this probably puts me in the minority of the American movie-going public (the film earned nearly a half-billion dollars at the box office, making it the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all-time), but I found it to be a bit too crass and a bit too formulaic for my taste.
CQ Weekly Story on B61 Life Extension Program Quotes Kingston Reif
A ‘Gold-Plated’ Bomb Upgrade July 29, 2013 Megan Scully President Barack Obama delivered a sweeping arms control speech in June that called for bold reductions in the number of tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Europe. His vow to work to cut nukes drew applause from the crowd assembled outside Berlin’s historic Brandenburg Gate and approval […]
House floor action on the FY 2014 Defense Appropriations bill
The House of Representatives yesterday approved the FY 2014 Defense Appropriations bill (H.R. 2397) by a vote of 315-109. The big headliner was the debate and vote on an amendment to the bill offered by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) to curtail the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities. The amendment failed 205-217 in an extremely close vote that saw both parties split almost evenly and hold an unusually excellent debate.
The Changing Taliban
A recent New York Times article revealed that the Obama administration is considering withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan ahead of the planned 2014 withdrawal date, raising questions about what the country might look like after foreign forces exit – whenever that may be. The answer is critical, as the future of post-withdrawal Afghanistan has implications for the entire Asian continent.