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U.S. Should Go Nuclear Against Terrorists and Their State Sponsors
Tweet Share on Facebook January 7, 2013 CommentDaniel Gallington is the Senior Policy and Program Adviser at the George C. Marshall Institute in Arlington, Va. He served in senior national security policy positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Justice, and as bipartisan general counsel for the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Recall that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta took a lot of criticism for announcing when we would "rotate" our combat troops out of Afghanistan. The gist of the criticism was/is that it was foolish to announce the timing of the departure, thus informing the Taliban—and the various other violent and corrupt influences there—when to plan their own "surge" to take over or maximize their positions for a takeover.
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Why Africa Is Essential to America's Future
Tweet Share on Facebook January 4, 2013 CommentStephen Hayes is president and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa.
Where those who travel in the circles that Corporate Council on Africa members travel, we constantly witness and hear about the business opportunities in Africa, but we seldom read anything about them in the media, unless it is an inspiring story of a local farmer who makes some money. There are very few reports beyond limited circles about what is really happening in Africa. Still, nearly every story we read focuses on the worst of Africa.
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Chuck Hagel on Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, and China
Tweet Share on Facebook January 3, 2013 CommentRobert Nolan is an editor at the Foreign Policy Association and producer of the Great Decisions in Foreign Policy television series on PBS. You can follow him on Twitter @robert_nolan.
In recent weeks, the debate surrounding the potential nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel as the next U.S. Secretary of Defense has taken on epic proportions. Despite the media storm, little has been said about how Hagel would actually manage the defense of the United States and take on the global challenges we face in the year ahead.
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How the Fiscal Cliff Will Affect Foreign Policy Initiatives
Tweet Share on Facebook January 3, 2013 CommentChristopher Preble is the vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute.
The last-minute budget deal approved by the departing 112th Congress delayed, but did not avert, military spending cuts. The major foreign policy initiatives in the new year and beyond will be constrained largely by a means-ends gap that is already quite wide, and that will grow wider. If the Pentagon has fewer dollars to spend, or simply fewer than they expected to have, the military should have fewer missions. Responsible policymakers should carefully weigh the costs and benefits of foreign policy initiatives, particularly those that are likely to impose an onerous burden on our troops.
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Al Qaeda, North Korea, and Other National Security Threats in 2013
Tweet Share on Facebook January 3, 2013 CommentDr. Lamont Colucci is an associate professor of politics at Ripon College, recent Fulbright Scholar to the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, and author of The National Security Doctrines of the American Presidency: How they Shape our Present and Future, among other books. You can find out more at lamontcolucci.com.
The New Year brings reflection and prediction—hope for the future tethered to the problems of the past. 2013 ushers in a host of national security and foreign policy threats that may boil over during the coming year. In a two volume book on national security doctrines I analyzed these threats through the lens going back three centuries. Our republic faces a myriad of threats, but 10 threats stand out as both immediate and long term. In this column I will focus on the problem, and next week the solutions.
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The U.S. Must Avoid Becoming Entangled in Mali
Tweet Share on Facebook January 2, 2013 CommentMichael P. Noonan is the Director of the Program on National Security at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
I've warned about the dangers of a metastasizing al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, in Mali in this space before—see here and here. Unfortunately this is probably an issue we will hear more about in 2013.
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