Analysis + Opinion | Older
Analysis + OpinionJuly 27, 2018The origins of America's gun obsessionJohn TirmanWBURJohn Tirman writes in an opinion piece that Sacha Baron Cohen's Who Is America? “kinderguardian” ruse reveals the extent of America’s gun culture. It’s a wellspring from the earliest times of colonial America, nourishing the country’s entire history. |
|
Analysis + OpinionJuly 25, 2018Authoritarian nostalgia among Iraqi youthMarsin AlshamaryWar on the RocksPhD candidate Marsin Alshamary discusses the roots and repercussions. |
|
Analysis + OpinionJuly 22, 2018Japan’s pivot in AsiaRichard J. Samuels and Corey WallaceOUPblogIn Tokyo, apprehension regarding how the different trajectories of China and the US might affect Japan—muted somewhat by the Obama administration’s reassurances of a US “pivot” to Asia—is more apparent than ever. |
|
Analysis + OpinionJuly 16, 2018A new military strategy for JapanEric Heginbotham and Richard SamuelsForeign AffairsJapan's current military strategy, which relies on forward defense, is outdated. An active denial strategy would improve deterrence and mitigate crisis instability, says Eric Heginbotham and Richard Samuels. |
|
Analysis + OpinionJuly 6, 2018More and more, overseas Chinese fear the long arm of BeijingAudrey Jiajia LiInkstoneWhen Audrey Jiajia Li was invited to host a panel at a conference in Singapore, she didn’t expect to be shouted at for being too negative on China. But it’s part of a disturbing trend of Chinese being unable to speak their mind overseas, she says. |
|
Analysis + OpinionJune 30, 2018There are signs North Korea is still working on its nuclear program. Here’s why ‘denuclearization’ is so problematic.Jane Vaynman and Vipin NarangThe Washington PostThere are signs that North Korea is continuing to improve and expand infrastructure at key nuclear-weapons-related sites, including multiple suspected clandestine sites, and a strategy to deceive the United States about them. And it has yet to raze the Sohae missile test site, as Trump claimed Kim promised to do in Singapore. |
|
Analysis + OpinionJune 12, 2018North Korea is a nuclear power. Get used to it.Vipin Narang and Ankit PandaThe New York TimesNorth Korea has arrived as a nuclear power, and there is no going back. Once the reality-show theatrics of the Singapore summit meeting subside, we are left with the reality that North Korea was just recognized as a de facto nuclear weapons power. |
|
Analysis + OpinionJune 12, 2018What just happened? Experts break it downCNNVipin Narang tells CNN that the Singapore summit showed why Kim Jong Un pursued nuclear weapons in the first place. Although he might have declared his nuclear weapons force “completed” in November 2017, it only achieved political completion when he sat down with the President of the United States as an equal. |
|
Analysis + OpinionMay 17, 2018Calm down, folks: Enemies still fear US military tech innovationHarvey M. Sapolsky and Eugene Gholz Defense OneWhere most countries focus on one or two areas, America has a huge, well-funded R&D infrastructure that pushes the envelope everywhere. Panting warnings that the US is falling dangerously behind our opponents in the race for military innovation are commonplace. |
|
Analysis + OpinionMay 11, 2018Between two Caesars: The Christians of northern IraqRoger Petersen and Matthew CancianProvidenceA brief account describing the formation and fragmentation of self-defense forces (militias) within the Christian population of the Nineveh Plains. Traces the development of their post-2003 self-defense force, the crisis of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) attack, and the current fractured state of Christian forces in the area. |
|
Analysis + OpinionMay 8, 2018The future of the US military commissions: legal and policy issuesJames E. Baker and Laura DickinsonJust SecurityThe ongoing operation of the US military commissions at Guantanamo Bay has posed significant challenges for multiple US administrations. |
|
Analysis + OpinionMay 4, 2018Trump thinks his North Korea strategy will work on Iran. He’s wrong on both.Colin H. Kahl and Vipin NarangThe Washington PostOn April 24, French president Emmanuel Macron walked into the Oval Office with one overriding mission: persuade President Trump not to ditch the Iran nuclear deal. |
|
Analysis + OpinionMarch 27, 2018Keep the Iran deal — 10 good reasons whyA bipartisan group of 118 American national security leaders, including CIS scholars, issued a statement outlining ten reasons why President Trump should keep the Iran nuclear deal. |
|
Analysis + OpinionMarch 15, 2018The Trump-Kim Summit and the truth about North Korean denuclearizationAnkit Panda and Vipin NarangThe DiplomatIn a stunning and unexpected move, President Donald Trump announced last week that he will meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un — setting the stage for the first-ever presidential-level US-North Korea summit. |
|
Analysis + OpinionMarch 1, 2018With friends like these: Japan-ROK cooperation and US policyEric Heginbotham and Richard SamuelsThe ASAN ForumAlthough they share a common ally, history and politics keep Japan and South Korea at arm’s length and severely limit their defense cooperation. |
|
Analysis + OpinionFebruary 20, 2018South Africa's healthy Democracy: Why Zuma's resignation is a good signDaniel de Kadt, Evan Lieberman, and Philip MartinForeign AffairsDemocracy in South Africa is in tatters. Or at least that’s the widespread view following President Jacob Zuma’s forced resignation on February 14, which ended his almost-nine-year tenure in office. |
|
Analysis + OpinionFebruary 13, 2018What can we learn from North Korea’s successful nuclearization?Nicholas L. Miller and Vipin NarangThe Texas National Security ReviewAccording to most theories of nuclear proliferation, North Korea did not stand much of a chance of successfully acquiring nuclear weapons. Yet here we are, staring down an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-sized barrel of the world’s 10th nuclear weapons power. |
|
Analysis + OpinionFebruary 13, 2018The rise of illiberal hegemonyBarry R. PosenForeign AffairsIs US hegemony of any kind sustainable, and if not, what policy should replace it? Trump turns out to be as good at avoiding that question as those he has condemned. |
|
Analysis + OpinionFebruary 12, 2018Why North Korea and Iran get accused of nuclear collusionJim Walsh Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistAt first glance, it would seem that Iran-North Korea military or even nuclear cooperation makes “sense.” Both nations face the United States as an adversary, and both have been subject to US and international sanctions. |
|
Analysis + OpinionFebruary 6, 2018An adolescent's foreign policyJohn TirmanHelsinki TimesIf there’s one thing President Donald Trump demonstrated in his first year in the White House, it is a penchant for disruption. Not the disruption we hear so much about in the tech industry or as a tool of innovation, but just sheer destructiveness. |