US-China Maritime Disputes: Too Close for Comfort

by Mel Gurtov Two recent close encounters between US spy planes and Chinese jets spell trouble for relations between Washington and Beijing. The first, between a US EP-3 spy plane and two Chinese jets over the South China Sea (SCS) near… Continue Reading →

Streetcars Named Deception

by Paul R. Pillar The repeated indicators of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian tendencies bring to mind that Erdogan once said, “Democracy is like a streetcar. When you come to your stop, you get off.” With a statement like… Continue Reading →

America’s Sinkhole Wars

by Andrew J. Bacevich We have it on highest authority: the recent killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan marks “an important milestone.” So the president of the United States has declared,… Continue Reading →

Cuba: Hope and Change?      

by John Feffer There are a number of no-go zones in the world for Barack Obama these days. Damascus is enemy territory. Most of Iraq and Afghanistan are too dangerous. Pyongyang has never hosted a sitting U.S. president, and Kim… Continue Reading →

Why the B-52 Failed

by David Bacon On the plane to Hanoi earlier this month, I opened my copy of The New York Times to find an article by Dave Philipps: “After 60 Years, B-52’s Still Dominate the U.S. Fleet.” The piece stuck with… Continue Reading →