Defense & Security Archive

In July 2012, the United Nations will meet in New York to negotiate an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The new treaty would establish international standards to regulate the legal trade in small and major conventional arms. On the one hand, the treaty is groundbreaking in its global reach, inclusion of human rights criteria and widespread state support. On the other hand, even after years of preparatory talks, questions about whether negotiations will produce a meaningful and effective document persist. The Problem and the Challenge Conventional weapons present policymakers with a dilemma. They are the building blocks of military and police […]

Energy security has become a strategic as well as an operational imperative for U.S. national security. As tensions continue to escalate with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, it has become clear that the U.S. military urgently requires new approaches and innovative technologies to improve fuel efficiency, increase endurance, enhance operational flexibility and support a forward presence for allied forces while reducing the vulnerability inherent in a long supply-line tether. Assured access to reliable and sustainable supplies of energy is central to the military’s ability to meet operational requirements globally, whether keeping the seas safe of pirates operating off the […]

The debate among U.S. foreign policy analysts over the wisdom of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities — and whether or not America should allow itself to be drawn into an ensuing conflict with Iran should Israel strike — has largely taken place parallel to the debate over whether to pursue an R2P, or responsibility to protect, intervention in Syria. It bears noting, however, that forcing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s departure may be the best near-term policy for the U.S. to avoid being sucked into an Israeli-Iranian war. Clearly the Assad ruling clan deserves our best efforts short of […]

The veto by Russia and China in February of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down has stalled efforts by the U.S., its European allies and the Arab League to halt the bloody crackdown in Syria through U.N. action. Though the U.S. is currently drafting a new U.N. resolution, calls by some observers to arm the Syrian resistance have now been echoed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf Cooperation Council states eager to see the pro-Iranian Assad regime replaced by a Sunni-dominated government. Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined the ranks of […]

According to Reuters, an estimated 100,000 North Koreans have taken part in a rally to protest South Korea’s current round of joint military exercises with the United States. This video purportedly shows footage of the rally, although it does not specify when or where the demonstration took place. World News Videos by NewsLook

Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro visited China in February, where he met with Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie to discuss boosting military ties. In an email interview, Kai He, an assistant professor of political science at Utah State University, discussed China-Indonesia relations. WPR: What is the current extent of defense ties between China and Indonesia, and are there any noticeable trends or trajectories? Kai He: The current military relationship between the two states has developed steadily. Since 2006, military officials from the two countries have held regular security consultation talks. In 2007, the two countries signed an agreement to enhance […]

The conventional wisdom in U.S. policy circles is that China’s support for autocrats in the Middle East, most recently manifested by its veto of a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution sponsored by the Arab League that called for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad to step down, has placed Beijing on the wrong side of history. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking at the conclusion of the Friends of Syria conference in Tunis, warned the Chinese that “they are setting themselves against the aspirations not only of the Syrian people but of the entire Arab Spring.” The implication is that […]

Israeli defense officials confirmed Sunday a deal to sell $1.6 billion in arms, including drones and missile defense systems, to Azerbaijan. The deal reflects the close relationship between Israel, which finds itself increasingly isolated in an increasingly hostile region, and Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran and is building up its military capability in the midst of its own dispute with Armenia. The news comes at a delicate time, with tensions flaring between Israel and Iran dominate headlines and analysts warning that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities could spiral into a regional conflict. Now, growing tensions between […]

When U.N. peacekeepers withdrew from Somalia in early 1995, a brief era of concerted international pressure aimed at bringing stability to the embattled Horn of Africa nation ended in defeat. The U.N. mandate to restore law and order in the Somali capital failed dismally: A shattered Mogadishu was abandoned, and prevailing wisdom deemed the country too difficult a challenge. Today, Somalia remains the globe’s archetypal “failed state,” plagued by pervasive poverty and endemic lawlessness. But faint glimmers of hope are now emerging. As Somalia prepares to draft a new constitution and end its period of transitional governance, indicators on the […]

Philip Yun, the Executive Director of the Ploughshares Fund and an expert on nuclear policy, says North Korea’s decision to halt nuclear activities in exchange for U.S. food aid is a good “first step” between the two countries. World News Videos by NewsLook