by John Isaacs Operation Teapot nuclear explosion at Nevada Test Site, Apple-2 tower shot (May 5, 1955). Over the past several months, a handful of conservative security analysts have begun to argue for upgrading the current U.S. nuclear arsenal. These arguments typically call for bolstering America’s “nuclear deterrent,” which of course is a euphemism for […]
Goodbye to Defense’s Gilded Age?
by Travis Sharp Published in Foreign Policy in Focus on October 15, 2008 The recently passed financial bailout package has drawn the ire of citizens throughout the United States. Both conservatives and liberals have condemned Congress and the White House for rescuing Wall Street titans, who caused the economic death spiral in the first place, […]
Putting the Financial Rescue Package in Perspective
by Travis Sharp The $700 billion financial bailout package has drawn the ire of citizens throughout the United States. Both conservatives and liberals have voiced concern that the package bails out Wall Street titans, who caused the financial crisis in the first place, by placing an enormous burden on middle- and working-class taxpayers. At a […]
Is this a ‘Victory’?
by Peter W. Galbraith Published by the New York Review of Books (October 23, 2008 edition) 1. We hear again and again from Washington that we have turned a corner in Iraq and are on the path to victory. If so, it is a strange victory. Shiite religious parties that are Iran’s closest allies in […]
Analysis of FY2009 Defense Appropriations in the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act (CR) for FY2009
by Travis Sharp SUMMARY With members of Congress eager to leave town for the campaign trail, and Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 starting on October 1, Congress slapped together a consolidated appropriations package that includes several appropriations bills and a continuing resolution (known as a ‘CR’) all rolled into one. A CR is designed to fund […]