SecurityNews
Syrian Geopolitical Chess: Putin’s One-Two Punch
Vladimir Putin’s op-ed in The New York Times is an attempt to talk to the American people over the heads of its elected representatives. For… Read More
News
The Syrian Off Ramp to Nowhere
President Obama’s speech tonight makes one thing clear: Despite all his bellicose rhetoric, he never wanted to strike Syria in the first place. Yes, he… Read More
Why Ignoring Russian Arms Cheating Leaves the United States Vulnerable
The Obama Administration appears to be ignoring Russian violations of arms control agreements in favor of securing future agreements, which will eventually leave the United… Read More
Snowden Asylum Is Burying Obama’s Russian “Reset”
The Kremlin delivered a diplomatic blow to U.S.–Russian relations when Moscow granted former NSA analyst Edward Snowden a temporary political asylum. Now, the White House… Read More
Snowden “on a Leash”: The High-Stakes Game in Russia
President Obama is considering cancellation of his summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin at the September G-20 confab over Russia’s harboring of the American fugitive… Read More
News
Edward Snowden and His Friends
Edward Snowden, the self-glamorizing leaker of National Security Agency secret programs, is still holed up in an airport in Moscow, where he’s been stuck for… Read More
Russia Compliance Problem: How Obama’s Policy Is Failing
In a recent article, Mark Schneider of the National Institute for Public Policy points out that Russia’s compliance issues with arms control treaties have worsened… Read More
Iran, North Korea Pose Greater Nuclear Threat Than Russia
Iran’s nuclear energy chief, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, declared Friday that the country will continue uranium enrichment for energy, though most outsiders suspect it will be used… Read More
Snowden Asylum Request: Another Blow to Obama’s Russia “Reset” Policy
Last Sunday, a Russian consular official confirmed that former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden asked for political asylum in Russia. Snowden’s defection, announced… Read More
“Russian Reset”: Time to Listen to the Critics
In a well-reasoned broadside, The Washington Post’s editorial board blasted President Obama’s Russian policy and his Berlin speech this past Thursday. The editorial justly criticized… Read More
GUEST POST: House Advances Bill to Preserve Internet Freedom
Recent efforts to regulate the Internet could jeopardize not only its vibrancy, but also the benefits it brings to the world. Nations from across the… Read More
Russia: Kerry’s Chilly Kremlin Reception
This past Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the Kremlin. Kerry was seeking to repair frayed ties… Read More
Human Rights Watch Decries Russia Opposition Crackdown
Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently released a scathing new report focused on the crackdown on Russia’s civil society. Since December 2011, the Kremlin has committed… Read More
Russia: Putin Uses Courts to Crush Opposition
KYIV, UKRAINE—Russia’s leading anti-corruption blogger, attorney and political activist Alexei Navalny, appeared in court Wednesday accused of embezzlement. On Thursday, federal prosectuors slapped him with… Read More
President Obama’s Half-Hearted Magnitsky List
The Departments of State and Treasury have released their public version of the “Magnitsky List”—18 Russian nationals who have committed gross human rights violations and… Read More
Russian War Games in Black Sea
On March 28, Vladimir Putin, returning home from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) Durban summit, ordered Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu to mobilize… Read More
Cyprus Bank Bailout: Russia Partly to Blame
As Cypriots come to grips with this week’s agreement to bail out its banks, Russian policymakers need to think about why their citizens are involved… Read More
Russia: Putin Loyalist Going Down in Flames
Vladimir Pekhtin, chairman of the Duma Ethics Committee, hid undisclosed luxury properties in Florida valued at nearly $2 million while proclaiming his anti-American credentials, according… Read More
Dead Man on Trial: Russian Whistleblower Tried After Death
The Russian government is set to posthumously try the brutally murdered whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky for tax fraud. While working for Hermitage Capital, formerly one of… Read More
Russian Orphan Adoption Ban Protests May Be Harbingers of Instability
On Sunday, the Russian New Year’s Eve (in the old-style Julian calendar), tens of thousands of Muscovites poured into the city center to protest the… Read More
Russia Sails New Nuclear Submarine While U.S. Continues Fleet Delays
Last week, after long delays, Russia made operational a new ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), or nuclear submarine, for the first time in over 20 years…. Read More
By Banning U.S. Adoption of Russian Orphans, Russia Shot Itself in the Foot
Last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously condemned Russia’s new draconian law—whose victims are Russian orphans and Russian democracy. Around Christmas last year, the Russian Duma… Read More
Kerry in Spotlight; Hot Issues Remain for Next Secretary of State
Last week, embattled U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice took herself out of the running for Secretary of State as Hillary Clinton’s successor. It did not take… Read More
Magnitsky Act Promises to Punish Human Rights Abuse, Open Trade
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that included language—called the Magnitsky Act—that for the first time punishes Russian officials implicated in serious… Read More
The Downfall of Russia’s Defense Minister
On November 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin sacked Defense Minister Anatoly E. Serdyukov, who has held the post since 2007. Serdyukov had overseen the largest… Read More
Russia Ramps Up Missile Tests
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently oversaw a strategic exercise—including a series of coordinated missile tests—that drew on Russia’s nuclear “triad” (bombers, intercontinental-range ballistic missiles [ICBMs],… Read More
U.S. Fires Its Own Broadcasters in Russia
The treatment inflicted on 41 Russian journalists in Moscow’s Radio Liberty office is nothing less than scandalous, and it threatens to silence American broadcasting into… Read More
Morning Bell: How Obama’s Foreign Policy Is Failing
Libya. Egypt. Syria. Iran. Russia. China. America’s relations with the world aren’t looking too good. President Obama said that in his Administration, America would reach… Read More
David vs. Goliath in Venezuela’s Elections
On October 7, millions of Venezuelans will vote for the man who will lead their country for the next six years. Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s populist,… Read More
News Flash for the Pentagon: U.S.–Russian “Reset” Failed
On Wednesday, Under Secretary of Defense Jim Miller argued that the Obama Administration’s “reset” policy with Russia had succeeded. According to Miller, rapproachment with Russia… Read More
