Is Israel losing bipartisan support?

As Israel ponders a new isolation in its neighborhood (one where it was never really accepted even at the best of times), I find myself wondering if there isn’t another long term trend that will threaten it even more profoundly. Its just a slight trend that I am noticing, but one that if played out, [...]

To keep NATO relevant, make it less ambitious

NATO has been the most successful military alliance in human history. It served as the bulwark, not just for the Western World against the USSR, but for freedom against totalitarianism globally. That it won without ever having fought an actual war is a real testament to its strategy and its commitment. However, its very success [...]

Hard Headed Liberal Foreign Policy

I am not in the habit of calling myself a liberal. I prefer to describe myself a defense hawk. But i am impassioned in the defense of the idea that Democrats can be tough on national security and foreign policy. I wrote a few days back about President Obama’s tough “leading from behind”. His approach [...]

Sometimes leading from behind is the right thing to do

A number of U.S. politicians and defense specialists, John McCain included, have criticized the President for not taking an active public role in leading NATO action in Libya – for leading from behind. Such criticism, however, is based on cynical domestic politics, and not on well thought through international policies. . The United States is [...]

Kagan: Preemptive Superpower Suicide

I am attaching a link to a short clip of an interview with Robert Kagan of FPI. In it he discusses how we can turn the financial crisis into preemptive superpower suicide if we rush to raid the Pentagon coffers. We will address the economy – gutting defense is something that we dont have to do. [...]

The bigger the defense cuts, the more urgent the need for a new security strategy

It is clear that the Pentagon will see some serious cuts as the country tries to deal with its fiscal situation. To an extent, this is as it should be – with wars winding down and the chances of us engaging in another land war slim, we can afford to rethink the military. The move [...]

Defense spending should be more than the output of budget math

The recent budget deal in Congress, for what it is worth, has kicked the tough decisions of who will bear the pain of cuts down the road to a later point in time. Just what will get cut will be decided by a super-committee of Congressmen drawn from both parties. If the committee cannot agree, [...]