Russian Ship Carrying Helicopters Sails Again for Syria
The MV Alaed has once again left its Russian port and is presumably heading back to Syria. The cargo ship was last in the news… Read More
Obama Pursues “Reset” While Putin Pursues “Get Set”
As reported by Bill Gertz, on the day Americans were celebrating our independence, Moscow dispatched bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons into the U.S. air… Read More
Duma to Crack Down Against Foreign-Funded NGOs
Last Friday, Russia’s Kommersant, a leading newspaper, reported that United Russia, the ruling political party, is about to submit a bill in the Duma that… Read More
Syria: Effective American Leadership Needed
Syria’s long-suffering people need U.S. leadership, and they need it now. The situation is dire as activists say more than 14,000 people have been killed… Read More
Magnitsky Act: Congress Should Uphold America’s Commitment to Human Rights
On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relation Committee unanimously passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which would ban Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s… Read More
Nuclear Proliferation Still Leads to Instability
In his recent article in Foreign Affairs, “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb: Nuclear Balancing Would Mean Stability,” Kenneth N. Waltz is swimming upstream against… Read More
Congressional Hearing Highlights the Need to Pass Magnitsky, PNTR to Russia
Yesterday and today, the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee held hearings on Russia’s abysmal human rights record and its looming accession… Read More
British Intervention Denies Assad His Russian Helicopters – For Now
It was announced yesterday in the House of Commons by British Foreign Secretary William Hague that the MV Alaed, the ship that is transporting Russian… Read More
Dialogue of the Deaf: Obama and Putin at the G-20 Meeting
Today, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting at the G-20 summit in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This meeting is likely will… Read More
Missile Defense Protection Against Iran Far Outweighs Objections from Russia or China
As the Obama Administration continues to pursue what can at best be described as a tepid commitment to missile defense, it nonetheless continues to draw… Read More
Russia, PNTR, and Human Rights
Progress on the ability of U.S. firms to take advantage of new business opportunities when Russia joins the World Trade Organization (WTO) took a step… Read More
When Will the President Reveal a Secret Deal with the Russians?
Congressman Mike Turner (R–OH) recently released a video asking what secret deal with the Russian Federation President Obama had in mind when he told Russian… Read More
On Missile Defense, Russian Paranoia Trumps Reality
Yesterday Nikolai Korchunov, Russia’s acting representative to NATO, had an article in The New York Times about NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defense entitled: “You Say Defense,… Read More
U.S.–Russia Trade and the Magnitsky Act
Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act (H.R. 4405), a measure designed to promote human rights… Read More
The Magnitsky Act: The Moment of Truth
?his Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will put the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act up for a vote. The bill seeks “to… Read More
From Lenin’s Birthplace to NATO’s Logistical Hub
The recent NATO summit in Chicago failed to produce a U.S.–Pakistan transit agreement. The agreement sought would have allowed U.S. forces and the International Security… Read More
Limiting Defenses to Placate Russia Is Dangerous
In his recent article former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Keith Payne offers a unique perspective on the U.S. missile defense program and exploits the… Read More
More Than Just a Statue: Ronald Reagan’s Legacy in Georgia
Recently, a statue of Ronald Reagan was unveiled in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Since I am in Georgia this week speaking at a conference… Read More
The Next StuxNet?
The Russian security firm Kaspersky Labs has released a report on a new, sophisticated malware variety called FLAME. It has been found on various targets… Read More
Missile Defense: Problems with an Assurance to Russia
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Steven Pifer responded to Senator Jon Kyl’s (R–AZ) op-ed that argued that President Obama should refuse to provide written assurances… Read More
Putin and Obama Won’t Visit Each Other Any More
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited the need to complete the formation of new cabinet ministers to excuse himself from attending the G-8 summit at… Read More
Kyl: “Obama May Be ‘Flexible.’ But the U.S. Owes Russia Nothing.”
In his recent piece in The Wall Street Journal, Senator Jon Kyl (R–AZ) makes the case that the United States should not give Russian President… Read More
Protect America, Not New START
Recently, Daryl Kimball and Tom Collina, both of the Arms Control Association, criticized the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) for taking hostage the implementations of… Read More
U.S. House Considering East Coast Missile Defense
According to press reports, the House Armed Services Committee has preserved a provision in its draft of annual defense legislation that would place ballistic missile… Read More
Russian Roulette at Voice of America
Depending on Russian government-funded media to broadcast news from Voice of America (VOA) is about as brain-dead as depending on Russian spaceships to send American… Read More
Putin Celebrates Inauguration Amidst Protests
On the eve of his third inauguration, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon for two hours to “compare notes”… Read More
Russia’s Blackmail Shows Why U.S. and Allies Need Missile Defenses
During a recent missile defense conference in Moscow, Russian Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov stated, “A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be… Read More
Obama’s Policy Toward Missile Defense Draws the Ire of Nation’s Leading Defense Experts
In a recent National Journal article, three-quarters of defense experts interviewed opposed any attempt by the Obama Administration to scale back missile defense deployment in… Read More
Sino–Russian Naval Exercises: Shape of Things to Come?
This week, the Chinese and Russian militaries began the first joint naval exercises the two sides have ever conducted. The exercise, occurring near Qingdao on… Read More
From Russia with Hate: Anti-Americanism Rampant in Putin’s Kremlin
If you sup with the Russian government, you’d better bring a long spoon. While some U.S.–Russian cooperation appears to be happening on the surface, behind… Read More
