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2. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVIII - July/August/September 2009
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The international Global Zero Commission, a group of political and military leaders from the United States, Russia and other key countries, held an intensive two-day meeting in Washington, D.C. on June 28-29, 2009 - where they presented a practical and comprehensive plan calling for the phased and verified elimination of all nuclear weapons over the next 20 years, and briefed senior Obama administration officials on their recommendations in advance of the July 6-8 Moscow Summit.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Washington, and Moscow
3. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVIII - April/May/June 2009
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Global Zero was publicly launched at its inaugural conference in Paris on Dec. 9, 2008 - bringing together a truly extraordinary group of more than 100 leaders from around the world toward the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. They discussed the outline for a step-by-step policy plan for the phased elimination of nuclear weapons and the public education and outreach plan for the coming year. The meeting generated widespread enthusiasm, as well as serious and constructive dialogue among participants.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
4. The Defense Monitor - Volume XXXVIII, No. 1 - January/February 2009
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- For the second year in a row, an unexpected major "national security" crisis threatened to reignite - again - into the latest round of armed conflict since the two countries were created 61 years ago. Headlines throughout most of December speculated about the added damage war would bring to an already financially weakened international system. Then, on Dec. 26, 2008, Israeli warplanes struck the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in what Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak would label an attempt to destroy Hamas once and for all.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- Israel
5. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVII, No. 4 - July/August 2008
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The Future Combat Systems (FCS), introduced in 2003, is the U.S. Army's major modernization effort for the next 20 years. It envisions integrating 14 aerial and ground components into an advanced communications network (System of Systems Common Operating Environment, or SOSCOE) to provide better situational awareness. The network would enable substantial armored vehicle weight reductions so that FCS brigades could be transported quickly by aircraft.
- Political Geography:
- United States
6. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVII - November/December 2008
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- In their January 2007 Op-Ed , George Shultz, William Perry, Sam Nunn and Henry Kissinger advocated "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons." To imagine a world without nuclear weapons means that the United States and the other nuclear powers can find a way to get rid of them. In other words: "Getting to zero." But, how to reach "zero" is usually where the debate stalemates. With characteristic candor, Shultz himself admits he doesn't know how to get to zero, and doubts if his colleagues do.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- United States
7. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVII, No. 5 - September/October 2008
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- In early 2001, the Pentagon anticipated an approximate budget of $900 billion for the Navy and Marines for the period 2001 to 2009. Not counting $95 billion subsequently received for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Navy/Marine Corps "base" (nonwar) budget was increased by $174 billion to $1.074 trillion. The data used for these calculations are displayed in the table on this page.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, War, and Maritime Commerce
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Iraq
8. Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVII, No. 3 - May/June 2008
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- On July 1, 2008 when France assumes the European Union (EU) presidency for six months, one of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's top priorities will be the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). According to Le Monde, Sarkozy is planning a "Saint-Malo (B)" – a reference to the Anglo- French declaration signed on Dec. 4, 1998, relaunching movement towards an EU defense capacity, and leading eventually to the birth of ESDP.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, War, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- Europe and France
9. Defense Monitor, Vol. XXXVII, No. 2 - March/April 2008
- Publication Date:
- 04-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The new 2009 defense budget has just been released. The more you look into the numbers, the more things become unclear, very unclear. Most of the numbers that have been released are inaccurate or incomplete, or both. Other numbers will change as the year progresses, but we do not know if they will go up or down.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Debt, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
10. Defense Monitor, Vol. XXXVII, No. 1 -January/February 2008
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Until Dec. 27, the "success" of U.S. President George Bush's defiant rejection of the American public's repudiation of his Iraq and Afghanistan war policies – evidenced by the November 2006 congressional election – looked to be the most significant aspect of major armed conflicts around the world during 2007.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and America
11. Defense Monitor, Civil Wars Turned Regional
- Author:
- Col. Daniel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 01-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- No conventional, state-sponsored opposing armies took to the field of battle in 2006. Nonetheless, the number of overt armed interventions by out-side powers in other nations civil wars increased, illustrating a trend away from conventional armed conflicts and toward more complex civil wars that increasingly transform into larger regional wars.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, International Political Economy, and War
- Political Geography:
- United States
12. Defense Monitor, Who Will Pay for this Puny Defense Budget?
- Author:
- Eric Hagt, Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Victoria Samson, and Rhea Myerscough
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- This analysis first appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegramon March 5, 2007.The new 2008 defense budget has been on the street for weeks. A consensus has emerged in Washington about its size. That consensus has little to do with the facts and much to do with political maneuvering, which has been orchestrated with brilliant success by the very same White House that everyone in Washington discounts as washed up.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Asia
13. The Defense Monitor, Primed and ready
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Bruce Blair, and Brian Ellison
- Publication Date:
- 05-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- American And Russian political rhetoric attaches the highest priority to imposing ironclad control over their nuclear arsenals. The two nations cooperate extensively and devote substantial resources to achieving this aim, but both nations are shooting themselves in the foot by allowing hoary cold War priorities to take precedence. The anachronistic mind-set of the cold Warrior still dominates their nuclear establishments, their agendas, and their relationship in ways that deeply undermine their efforts to contain “loose nukes.” They spend 25 times more money to preserve their c old War nuclear deterrent postures than they spend on shoring up security against theft.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, America, Europe, and Asia
14. The Defense Monitor, U.S. Missile Defenses in Europe: The Putin Alternative
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Theresa Hitchens, and Richard May
- Publication Date:
- 07-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- At the G-8 Summit in early June, the difficulties and complexities of proposed U.S. missile defenses in Europe were on full display. In the weeks preceding the G-8 Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin had set the Bush administration – and the world – back on its heels with talk of Russian missiles aimed at Europe in retaliation for proposed U.S. missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic. This set the stage for what the Bush administration thought might be a G-8 confrontation over its proposed missile defense system. Then, on June 7, Putin proposed a smart missile defense technical and policy solution that the Pentagon should have thought of first: establishing a missile defense radar site at the existing Qabala early warning radar station in Azerbaijan.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia
15. The Defense Monitor, Conventional Weapons Pose Challenges for U.S. Forces in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Mark Burgess, Marta Conti, Monica Czwarno, and Ana Marte
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Six years Ago, the United States began its operations in Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At the time, scant attention was paid to the dangers of landmines, unexploded ordnance and small arms that plagued the country. Now, six years later, U.S. and coalition military forces serving in Afghanistan continue to face a variety of dangers, beyond the unfriendly geography and resurgent Taliban forces. Troops supporting the international Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and operation enduring Freedom (OEF) face additional challenges from landmines, unexploded ordnance, man-portable air defense systems and other small arms.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
16. The Defense Monitor, The U.S. Military: By the Numbers
- Author:
- Winslow Wheeler and Ana Marte
- Publication Date:
- 11-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- This issue of the Defense Monitor will highlight CDI's 2007 Military Almanac, a compilation of government, academic and other research data that depicts the cost, structure, history and makeup of the U.S. military. For this issue, we have chosen to display several Almanac charts that highlight significant issues such as the recent composition of the U.S. Armed Forces, the basic U.S. force structure relative to the military service budget, the companies being awarded top defense contracts for new weapons, the size of the U.S. military spending relative to the defense budgets of other countries around the globe, and the overall composition of the U.S. military commands.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States
17. The Defense Monitor, “Wars decrease”
- Author:
- Col. Daniel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Set against non-stop cable news broadcasts recounting the ongoing daily carnage in Iraq and the resurgent violence in Afghanistan, the headline “wars decrease” was a jolt.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, International Political Economy, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Iraq
18. Defense Monitor, Missile Defense: An Expensive Bluff?
- Author:
- Eric Hagt, Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, and Anthony Zinni
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- North Korea's launch of numerous missiles the first week of July raised serious questions about the capabilities of both the U.S. missile defense system and North Korea's ballistic missile program. CDI Analyst Victoria Samson and Senior Advisor Philip Coyle appeared on numerous radio talk shows and TV news programs nationwide, helping viewers, listeners and readers to understand that the missile defense system being deployed in Alaska and California has no demonstrated capability to defend the United Sates against an enemy attack. Meanwhile the Bush administration is losing precious time. As Coyle points out in the article below, it's time to enter into one-on-one talks with North Korea before Pyongyang improves its short and long range missiles further. The six-party talks are important and necessary, but not sufficient to stop North Korea's missiles. And neither, unfortunately, are U.S. missile defenses.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Iraq, Middle East, Asia, and North Korea
19. Defense Monitor: Where is America Going? Five Years After Sept. 11
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Victoria Samson, Jessica Ashooh, Mark Burgess, and Rhea Myerscough
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- In the days before Sept. 11, riding the post-Cold War high, America was blissfully unaware of the threats it faced, and why. A few in the William J. Clinton administration tried to warn their successors about al-Qaida's danger, but overall, most Americans were blindsided by the Sept. 11 attacks. Five years later, America is still largely in the dark.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia
20. Defense Monitor, Not What We Were Hoping For
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Victoria Samson, and Theresa Hitchens
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- For decades, the U.S. Air Force has promoted the F-22 as its fighter for the 21st century. Advocates tout its technical features: fuel efficient, high speed “super-cruise,” advanced electronics, and reduced profile against enemy sensors, known as “stealth.” While those are popular amenities, the measures that really determine winning or losing in air combat have been overlooked by the Air Force. The F-22 fails to improve America's fighter force and degrades our combat capability.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States
21. The Defense Monitor: Congress Steps Back From Nukes
- Author:
- Victoria Samson
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The United States just took one small step away from the brink. Congress has opted against funding research for a nuclear weapon that would target underground bunkers. This decision squelched a program that would likely have created a new nuclear warhead, something that is particularly incongruous at a time when nations around the world are fervently trying to convince the leaderships of North Korea and Iran that their countries do not need nuclear weapons. However, this wisdom on the part of the U.S. government may prove to be temporary.
- Topic:
- Government, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Asia, and North Korea
22. The Defense Monitor: Will There Ever Be Another BRAC?
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The final recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission became law in November. Congress or the president could have rejected the commission's recommendations entirely, but could not “cherry pick” the parts they liked or reject parts they didn't.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
23. The Defense Monitor: Military Spending: CDI Analysts Take a Close Look at Defense Budgets
- Author:
- Rhea Myerscough
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- How do Congress and the Bush administration prioritize the issues monitored by the Center for Defense Information's Challenging Conventional Threats project? This examination of the fiscal year (FY) 2006 and 2007 budget appropriations and requests for U.S. government programs involving small arms and light weapons (hereafter referred to as “small arms”) and landmines attempts to determine just that.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Government, Political Economy, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
24. The Defense Monitor: Philip E. Coyle, III, CDI Senior Advisor, Appointed to Base Realignment and Closure 2005
- Author:
- Victoria Samson
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The Center for Defense Information is proud to announce that Philip E. Coyle III, a senior advisor at the center, has been appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the independent Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 commission.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iran, and Middle East
25. The Defense Monitor: Give Iraqis a Government Worth Dying For
- Author:
- Chet Richards
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- There is a principle of engineering that says that when what you're doing isn't working, and trying harder makes the situation worse, you may be solving the wrong problem. With the attacks on London proving that occupying Iraq is not making the world safer, it is time for a radically new approach.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Government, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Europe, Middle East, and London
26. The Defense Monitor, The Mess in the Defense Budge
- Author:
- Marcus Corbin, Michael Donovan, Winslow T. Wheeler, and Ivan Safranchuk
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The new fiscal year (FY) 2006 defense budget from President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is riddled with contradictions and duplicity. By the time Congress is finished, the problems will be worse.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
27. The Defense Monitor, Secretary of defense donald rumsfeld, dec. 8, 2004
- Author:
- Daniel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- If made 63 years and one day earlier – Dec. 7, 1941 – that assertion would have reflected reality as the United States suddenly found itself an active participant in World War II. It arguably was the case on Oct. 8, 2001, when U.S. cruise missiles targeted Taliban and al-Qaida installations and personnel in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Taliban
28. The Defense Monitor, Challenging Conventional Threat
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl, Victoria Samson, Marcus Corbin, and Tomas Valasek
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- This issue of The Defense Monitor presents several of the projects currently underway at the Center for Defense Information, and describes how the work of CDI is making a difference, inside and outside of Washington, D.C. Of the many and varied CDI initiatives, highlighted here are projects on several of the hot topics of the day: the arms trade, small arms and light weapons; security cooperation with Europe; missile defense and space weapons; and, the war in Iraq, the size and shape of the military, and the role of Congress in overseeing and ensuring national security. At a time when too often public debate is cut short and poorly informed, in these and other areas CDI continues to supply the independent information. Its well-grounded analysis, and creative solutions are vital to help policy-makers make sound choices, and to support a healthy discourse on important national security issues affecting the nation and the world.
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Europe, and Washington
29. The Defense Monitor, The Wrong Deterrence: The Threat of Loose Nukes is One of Our Own Making
- Author:
- Colin Robinson, Bruce.G Blair, Nikolai Zlobin, and Alan F. Kay
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Nuclear terrorism, thankfully, is still only a specter, not a reality. But the recent wave of bloodshed in Russia underscores the urgency of the need to prevent terrorists capable of indiscriminate slaughter from acquiring nuclear bombs.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Russia and United States
30. The Defense Monitor, The Real Problem with Intelligence
- Author:
- Mark Burgess, Lawrence Korb, Winslow T. Wheeler, and Philip E. Coyle
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The reports of the 9/11 Commission and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence miss the real problem facing the intelligence community. The real problem is not organization or culture, but the Team B concept which began in 1976 and the real villains are those hardliners who refuse to accept the unbiased and balanced judgments of intelligence professionals about the threats facing the country.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
31. The Defense Monitor, Ten Mistakes History will Record About War in Ira
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl, Anthony Zinni, Steven C. Welsh, Michael Donovan, and Colin Robinson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- [T]he first mistake that will be recorded in history [is] the belief that containment as a policy doesn't work. It certainly worked against the Soviet Union, has worked with North Korea and others. It's not a pleasant thing to have to administer, it requires troops full-time, there are moments when there ... are periods of violence, but containment is a lot cheaper than the alternative, as we're finding out now.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and North Korea
32. The Defense Monitor, Keeping Presidents in the Nuclear Dark: The SIOP Option that Wasn't
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Theresa Hitchens, and Bruce.G Blair
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- ONE OF THE MOST RAREFIED experiences of a newly installed president is his receiving of the “nuclear football” conferring the right to order the use of nuclear weapons in defense of the American national interest. Few, if any, presidents have had a firm grip on the “football” however, as all U.S. presidents receive a misleading briefing on their nuclear weapons rights and responsibilities, and options.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
33. The Defense Monitor, Rogue States: Nuclear Red-Herrings
- Author:
- Eric Hagt, Victoria Samson, Thomas R. Pickering, Lawrence J. Korb, Bruce.G Blair, and Yali Chen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- For all the talk about rogue states acquiring nuclear weapons to threaten the United States, and all the heated debate about the United States developing mini-nukes and bunker busters to keep the rogues at bay, the U.S. nuclear weapons establishment does not pay much attention to the “axis of evil.” The real obsession of the U.S. nuclear enterprise at all levels — from Strategic Command in Omaha to the bomb custodians and designers in New Mexico — is keeping U.S. nuclear forces prepared to fight a large-scale nuclear war at a moment's notice with … Russia.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, and Mexico
34. The Defense Monitor, Vital Statistics: The U.S. Military
- Author:
- Marcus Corbin and Olga Levitsky
- Publication Date:
- 12-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- This issue of the defense monitor provides basic information about U.S. and foreign military forces, including facts on size, equipment, and cost. It is intended as a snapshot reference guide — more data is available on the CDI website at www.cdi.org/ news/vital-statistics/ and on the government Internet sources listed at the back of the issue.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
35. The Defense Monitor: Little Room in Politics for the Facts of the Matter
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Theresa Hitchens, Victoria Garcia, Colin Robinson, Krista Nelson, and Jeffrey Lewis
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Few things are more routinely abused than facts when people in government — any party, any branch — set out to make a decision. I've been reminded of this truth watching the current administration parry revelations that it manipulated “facts” about weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for the war against Iraq that Congress authorized a year ago this past week. But I'd learned it the hard way much earlier. During a 31-year career as an evaluator for the General Accounting Office and a staffer for four different U.S. senators from both parties, I spent a lot of time trying to use facts to influence decisions made by the U.S. government. The facts took a beating all too often.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States and Iraq
36. The Defense Monitor: Liberation and Occupation in Iraq
- Author:
- Michael Donovan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- S of this writing, 39 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq in the 10 weeks following the declared conclusion of the campaign to over throw Saddam Hussein on May 1. This fact stands in sharp contrast to the optimistic pre-war rhetoric of the George W. Bush administration regarding the “liberation” of Iraq and testifies to the arduous road that lies ahead.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and War
- Political Geography:
- United States and Iraq
37. The Defense Monitor: Nuclear Recollections
- Author:
- Bruce Blair
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Rear Adm. Eugene (Gene) Carroll, our beloved colleague who passed away this February, often shared with me his recollections of the role he once played in planning for nuclear war. As quoted in his obituary in the Washington Post, Gene once wrote: “During the horrible confrontation with the Soviet Union we called the Cold War, I frequently stood nuclear alert watch on aircraft carriers. For a period of time my assigned target was an industrial complex and transportation hub in a major city in Eastern Europe … My bomb alone would have resulted in the death of an estimated 600,000 human beings. Multiply that by 40 or 50 times and you can understand what two carriers alone would have done.”
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Cold War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, and Soviet Union
38. The Defense Monitor: The World At War
- Author:
- Col. Daniel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- At the start of 2003, the United States remains focused on fighting global terrorism in general even as it zeroes in on Iraq as the nexus of evil. But a number of factors in play today make international support for such a venture less effusive than in 1990-91, when the last anti-Saddam “coalition of the willing” formed. Many economies, including those of three of the four big financial supporters of the 1990-91 war — Japan, Germany, and Saudi Arabia — are weaker. Any war would be relatively more expensive. Suspicions about U.S. motives, fueled by the Bush administration's initial unilateralism, remain alive despite Washington's patient work in obtaining a UN Security Council resolution on new inspections. Germany has declared it will provide no forces; use of Saudi Arabian airbases to launch combat missions against Iraq remains unclear; and troop contributions, as well as moral support, from other Arab states such as Egypt and Syria may not materialize.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, War, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, Iraq, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt
39. The Defense Monitor: Victory At An Unknown Cost
- Author:
- Stephen H. Baker
- Publication Date:
- 12-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Throughout the spring, summer and fall of this year thousands of U.S. military planners have worked on the various contingencies and strategies concerning a possible invasion of Iraq.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- United States and Iraq
40. The Defense Monitor: The Afghan Campaign One Year On
- Author:
- Mark Burgess
- Publication Date:
- 09-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- An Afghan Blitzkrieg? Sept. 11, 2001, transformed Afghanistan even more than it did America. The pariah state which harbored Osama bin Laden, and was the base camp for his al Qaeda network, immediately became the focus of the U.S. war against terrorism. The Afghan campaign began amid dire warnings of the dangers historically faced by foreign interlopers in the country that was center stage of central Asia's “great game” during the 19th and 20th centuries and that would become the first battlefield of an even greater one during the first year of the 21st. The experience of the British and the Soviets was held up as an example of what fate potentially awaited any American intervention in Afghanistan. A year later, such warnings seem overstated. Al Qaeda's camps in Afghanistan have been destroyed, the Taliban ousted, and an Afghan Transitional Government rules in their place. Meanwhile, life for the average Afghan is a considerably less nasty and brutish affair than it was a little over a year ago — all in short order and at a relatively low cost in human life. Such successes notwithstanding, the Afghan campaign is not yet over. It has not been without failings, some of which may return to haunt ongoing operations there. Similarly, some of the methods used to achieve this success, while effective in the short term, may yet prove polemical.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan
41. The Defense Monitor: How Little is Enough: U.S. End–Use Monitoring and Oversight of the Weapons Trade
- Author:
- Fleur A. Burke
- Publication Date:
- 08-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- When the united states began airstrikes in Afghanistan in October 2001, U.S. planes were threatened by Stinger missiles that had been provided to the mujaheddin by the United States in the 1980s. Since at least the mid-1990s, the use of legally exported U.S. weaponry to bomb and burn Kurdish villages in southeastern Turkey has been documented. Turkish forces have also used U.S.-supplied light weaponry in specific human rights violations, ranging from torture to indiscriminate firing on civilians.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Turkey
42. The Defense Monitor: Nuclear Time Warp
- Author:
- Dr. Bruce G. Blair
- Publication Date:
- 05-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- President george W. Bush's new Nuclear Posture Review harks back to the stone age, or at least to the 1950s, when America's most beautiful minds struggled to devise a strategy to deal with the original rogue state — the Soviet Union. The latest exercise to devise a nuclear strategy to neutralize threats of weapons of mass destruction wielded by the 2002-class of rogue states such as Iraq and North Korea is proof that time folds over on itself, and that higher-order nuclear intelligence is as elusive as table-top fusion. This repetition of history isn't funny, but it is dangerous.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and North Korea
43. The Defense Monitor: Exploring the Axis of Evil — Introduction
- Author:
- Dan Smith
- Publication Date:
- 04-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- IN HIS JAN. 29, 2002 State of the Union Address to Congress and the American public, U.S. President George W. Bush described a tripartite “axis of evil” threatening the United States.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- United States
44. The Defense Monitor: Letter from the President
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl, Michael Donovan, Tomas Valasek, and Bruce.G Blair
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- In the immediate wake of the terrorist atrocities, the entire CDI staff devoted itself to providing timely information and insight into the U.S. and world response to the crisis. Since then, we have channeled most of our effort into addressing the terrorist threat and its alleviation. Over 100 articles and updates have been posted on our web site on a daily basis, attracting heavy traffic to the site by an appreciative audience. Numerous other projects have been launched as part of this urgent new agenda - for instance, a joint project on nuclear terrorism involving Russian officials from the Ministry of Atomic Energy and CDI staff from Washington and Moscow (home of a new CDI office).
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Washington, and Moscow
45. The Defense Monitor: Fatally Flawed? U.S. Policy Toward Failed States
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl, Michael Stohl, and Matthew Lewis
- Publication Date:
- 10-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The Events Of Sept. 11 may prove, as so many have claimed in their immediate aftermath, to be a true watershed in international relations and for the lives of American citizens. However, there can be no doubt that the events changed the priorities of U.S. President George W. Bush, and challenged the approach to international relations that characterized the first nine months of the new administration. To that end, the current security environment will have significant impacts on the persisting problem of failed and failing states.
- Topic:
- Religion and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Arabia
46. The Defense Monitor: Fiscal Year 2002 Budget Request
- Author:
- Christopher Hellman and Daniel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 08-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The bush administration is requesting $343.2 billion for the Pentagon in Fiscal Year 2002. This is $32.6 billion above current levels, and includes the $14.2 billion increase requested for the military in the March budget release (see below). This total also includes $14.3 billion for the defense functions of the Department of Energy.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
47. The Defense Monitor: Population Growth and Water Resources in the Middle East
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl, Christopher Hellman, Tomas Valasek, Leigh Josey, and Nicholas Berry
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Political strife is nothing new in the Middle East. In fact, many of the present-day disputes date back 100 years or more. But the increasing scarcity of renewable water resources and the simultaneous high population growth add new urgency to the necessity to devise a settlement.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Agriculture, Demographics, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- United States and Middle East
48. The Defense Monitor: NMD Development is not Hostage to the ABM Treaty
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- To prove he is serious about National Missile Defense, President George W. Bush must abrogate the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty now, according to the most strident critics of the treaty. The longstanding ABM accord with Russia, it is said, is thwarting the technology needed for missile defense.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- United States
49. The Defense Monitor: The Security Environment in Asia
- Author:
- Nicholas Berry
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The security environment in Asia has become highly complex since the end of the Cold War. A legacy from that superpower struggle still affects security relations, but what is surprising is the re-emergence of issues associated with World War II and before. Asians have long memories. Their injuries are not forgotten. Past history is just yesterday.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
50. Defense Monitor: Montenegro: Looking War In The Face
- Author:
- Tomas Valasek
- Publication Date:
- 07-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Few other places in the world seem as close to war as Montenegro, Serbia s smaller partner in the all-but defunct Yugoslav Federation. Montenegro is poised to clash with troops carrying the federal flag of Yugoslavia but in reality serving only the Serbian government of Slobodan Milosevic. The two republics fell out over the nature of the political system: Serbia s government is turning increasingly dictatorial and autocratic while Montenegro is a fledgling democracy. Unlike all previous conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, ethnic differences — which in the case of Serbia and Montenegro are blurry to the point of nonexistent — do not play a major role.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and War
- Political Geography:
- Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Montenegro
51. Defense Monitor: NMD Update: The Real World Intrudes
- Author:
- Colonel Daniel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 06-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- IN AN EARLIER DEFENSE MONITOR(Volume XXIX, Issue 1, 2000), we reported on the status of the National Missile Defense program (NMD). At that time the success rate of NMD was 50%, although even the October 2, 1999 success was qualified because the kill vehicle first homed on the single decoy until, at the last moment, it finally detected its true target nearby.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and Economics
52. Defense Monitor: Landmines Remain Issue in Korea
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl
- Publication Date:
- 05-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Three years ago the international community joined forces to ban landmines. While the majority of the countries of the world worked to reach an agreement, several countries remained opposed to the effort. Nonetheless, today the 1997 Ottawa Treaty banning the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines has been signed by 137 countries and ratified by 95. The Treaty entered into force in March 1999, becoming binding international law more quickly than any treaty in history.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Economics, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Ottawa
53. Defense Monitor: The NPT Review — Last Chance?
- Author:
- Rear Admiral Eugene Carroll
- Publication Date:
- 03-2000
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Just five years ago the United States led a strong global effort to achieve indefinite extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1970 which was due to expire on its 25th anniversary in April, 1995. U.S. leaders exerted substantial diplomatic pressure on nations less than enthusiastic about extending the NPT regime in order to ensure perpetuation of this critically important element of the global arms control structure, one very much in U.S. security interests.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and Economics
- Political Geography:
- United States