Section: Foreign Policy Research Institute (USA)
Why We Must Recognize North Korea
The reason that negotiations over North Korea have never achieved anything is simple. Their avowed goal is impossible to achieve. It is well-past time to accept that no means, political or military, exists to eliminate North Korean nuclear weapons. Their continued existence is certain, as will be explained. That being the case, it is time for the...
Russia’s Existential Threat to NATO in the Baltics
NATO seems more united today than it has been at any time since the end of the Cold War. An aggressive Russia, unbowed by Western economic sanctions after its annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine, has driven NATO member countries closer together. However, if given the opportunity, an aggressive Russia could also put NATO in a...
Effectiveness of Economic Sanctions on Russia’s Economy
In early 2015, Western leaders thought they had Russia cornered. A year earlier they imposed on Russia economic sanctions, which ranged from restrictions on access to Western capital markets to bans on the export of oil-production technology, to punish it for its role in dismembering Ukraine. Those sanctions and the Russian boycotts that followed...
Putin’s Maginot Line Exposed by North Korea’s Missile Launch
Hey mom there’s something in the backroomI hope it’s not the creatures from aboveWhat if people knew that these were realI’d leave my closet door open all nightI know the CIA would sayWhat you hear is all hearsayI wish someone would tell me what was right – Blink-182 “Aliens Exist” …read more Source: Foreign Policy...
How Can the West Combat the Global Democratic Recession?
Map of Eurasia by Regime Type (Source: Freedom House 2017 Nations in Transit Report) Earlier this month, Freedom House released its annual “Nations in Transit” (NIT) report,[1] which painted a disheartening picture for democracy in Eurasia. “Populists’ stunning electoral victories in Europe and the United States have shaken the post–Cold...
Conspiracy Theories & the St. Petersburg Metro Tragedy
(Source: kremlin.ru) Everyone likes a good conspiracy. Conspiracies explain a complicated world.[1] …read more Source: Foreign Policy Research...
Iranian Missile Tests on the Rise
In February 2017, the Islamic Republic of Iran conducted a test of its Soumar cruise missile. The test was declared a success, and according to reports, the missile flew 600km during flight. The test occurred only a few days after Iran conducted a flight test of its medium range ballistic missile (MRBM). After the MRBM test, the United States...
Is Trump Russia’s Manchurian Candidate? No. Here’s Why
“Is Trump a Manchurian Candidate?” The Trump as “Manchurian Candidate” scenario has been a constant query for my colleagues and I since we published our warnings in August and November last year about Russia’s influence campaign on the U.S. presidential election. This loosely plays along the plot line of the 1959 novel and follow up 1962...
National Security Advisor McMaster: The Good and Bad of Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice – General Officer Edition”
“I’ve got Captain McMaster for MilArt!” West Point cadets enrolled in Military History 302 during the early 1990’s spoke with pride if they were the lucky few drawing McMaster’s section. They studied combat under the tutelage of Desert Storm’s most notable young war hero – the commander of E Troop, 2nd Armored Cavalry...
Clouded Reassurances in Asia
Last week, Secretary of Defense James Mattis made his first official foreign visit as a member of the Trump administration. It was also the first overseas visit by any member of the new cabinet. The new Defense Secretary spent time in both South Korea and Japan, two of America’s most important allies in Asia. The choice of these two...
