Despite 2009 “Surge” Taliban Remains Force to be Reckoned with in Afghanistan

Foreign Policy’s Stephen Walt highlights a chart by Belfer Center fellow Matt Waldman showing that as the US-led 2009 “Surge” in Afghanistan proceeded, US casualties increased. The pace in 2012 is also roughly similar to the toll from the previous two years: Equally important,… Continue Reading

Walter Russell Mead Should say what he Means

This weekend, Ariel Sharon’s son Gilad published an instantly-notorious op-ed in which he called for Israel to abandon any attempt to distinguish combatants from civilians and “flatten all of Gaza” — a proposal of genocide or something close to it.… Continue Reading

The Proportionality Of A 33-To-1 Casualty Ratio

The House of Representatives, the State Department, and various pro-Israel organizations in Washington have all issued statements expressing support for Israel’s recent actions in the Gaza Strip and reaffirmed Israel’s right to act in “self-defense.” Indeed, Israel’s right to self-defense… Continue Reading

Implications of the November 2012 IAEA Report on Iran

Write Kelsey Davenport, Daryl G. Kimball, and Greg Thielmann at Arms Control Now: Taken together, the IAEA report findings provide further troubling evidence that Iran is continuing to pursue sensitive nuclear fuel-cycle activities in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and… Continue Reading

Israel vs. Gaza: The Grim Bottom Line

If current diplomacy fails, pent up rage on both sides, a cycle of tit-for tat-retaliation, Hamas’ hopes for greater Arab assistance, and a yearning to emerge from this latest round of heavy fighting on better footing than either side did from the… Continue Reading