by Paul R. Pillar After the Soviet Union launched a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, President Jimmy Carter remarked to a television interviewer that this event had “made a more dramatic change in my opinion of what the… Continue Reading
by Robert E. Hunter At the start of the Kennedy administration, the new secretary of defense, Robert S. McNamara, called for a root-and-branch review of just about everything the Pentagon was doing. It became known as the “76 trombones.” It… Continue Reading
by Emile Nakhleh The New York Times reported last Thursday that the US State Department has decided to lift human rights as a condition for the sale of F-16 fighter jets and other weapons to Bahrain, a small, Sunni, family-ruled… Continue Reading
by Mark N. Katz The successful meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Moscow on March 28 indicates that the two leaders have similar views not just on Syria, but on several other issues. Still,… Continue Reading
by Mitchell Plitnick On March 16, Israeli planes struck several targets in Syria. Israel said that it had targeted shipments of “advanced weapons” meant for Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. These strikes occur from time… Continue Reading