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- Embrace New Security Strategy, Brian
Katulis and Nina Hachigian
- Defense Spending Bait and Switch,
Lawrence Korb, Sean Duggan and Laura Conley
- Setting Aside Differences to Focus on
Afghanistan, Lawrence Korb and Gianluca La Manno
- Don't Ask, Don't Tell By the Numbers,
Center for American Progress
- Buying Second Engine for F-35 Wastes
Money, Hurts Military, Lawrence Korb and Loren Thompson
- Responding to the Korean Peninsula
Crisis, Winny Chen
- President Obama's Progressive China
Policy, Nina Hachigian and Winny Chen
- We Share More Than a Fence, Michael Werz
and Winny Chen
- Escalating Operations in Southern
Afghanistan, Caroline Wadhams
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Brian Katulis and Nina Hachigian, "Embrace New
Security Strategy," Politico,
May 26, 2010
When
the Obama administration releases its new national security strategy
Thursday, it is sure to spark a sharp debate, for the plan is grounded
in core progressive foreign policy principles that stand in sharp
contrast to mainstream conservative doctrine. Today, conservatives talk
about an outdated conception of power — saying that to be safe,
the United States must dominate the world. Stuck in a 19th-century
mind-set, many conservatives view international rules and institutions
as an entangling web of interdependence designed to constrain U.S.
freedom of action.
Click here to
read the full article.
Lawrence Korb, Sean
Duggan and Laura Conley, "Defense Spending Bait and Switch," Center for
American Progress, May 26, 2010
Congress should give full consideration to the Enhanced Rescission
Proposal that the Obama administration sent to Capitol Hill for
consideration earlier this week. The proposal, if enacted, would enable
the White House to eliminate specific items it deems unnecessary or
wasteful after signing a bill into law. Congress would then have 25
congressional business days to approve the president’s
rescissions, which could not be amended. The proposal, while less
powerful than the line item veto that was declared unconstitutional by
the Supreme Court in 1998, would provide the executive branch with an
important tool to check the irresponsible tendency of some in Congress
to support unneeded weapons programs—among other unnecessary
spending initiatives.
Click here to
read the full article.
Lawrence Korb and
Gianluca La Manno, "Setting Aside Differences to Focus on Afghanistan,"
Center for American Progress, May 25, 2010
The central role of regional players in stabilizing Afghanistan is not
a new idea. General David Petraeus remarked in 2009 that, “This
is a regional insurgency and it requires regional solutions.” He
specifically mentioned India, China, Russia, and Iran as countries that
should be included within a group of nations that have an interest in
stabilizing the country. Indeed, India and Pakistan have important
roles to play in Afghanistan as close neighbors and key allies as the
Center for American Progress recognized in 2007. Yet ensuring that the
country plays a constructive role in Afghanistan has proven to be
easier said than done.
Click here to
read the full article.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
By the Numbers, Center for American Progress, May 25, 2010
Defense Secretary Gates called earlier this year for a Pentagon working
group to begin drafting a plan for enacting a repeal to the ban, and
that proposal is due to the secretary, Joint Chiefs, and president
later this year. Congressional passage of repeal would ensure that all
parts of government—legal and military—can move forward
together once the Pentagon’s proposal is completed.
At a time when we are fighting two wars, what matters most on the
battlefield is a person's ability to complete the mission. It’s
time for our country's laws and our military's policies to reflect this
basic, common sense notion.
Click here to
read the full article.
Lawrence Korb and
Loren Thompson, "Buying Second Engine for F-35 Wastes Money, Hurts
Military," Lexington Institute, May 25, 2010
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is being developed to replace most of the
Cold War tactical aircraft operated by three U.S. military services and
nine allies. The success of the program depends on holding down costs.
However, House backers of an unneeded "alternate engine" for the
single-engine F-35 are threatening to withhold money for the fighter
unless their pet project is funded -- a move that potentially drives up
the cost of each plane in the program. In effect, the legislators are
trying to hold hostage the modernization of military air fleets to
assure their home states get jobs at the expense of taxpayers and our
warfighters.
Click here to
read the full article.
Winny Chen,
"Responding to the Korean Peninsula Crisis," Center for American
Progress, May 21, 2010
The sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, and the finding
this week that North Korea was to blame turns a tense situation on the
peninsula into a full-blown crisis. The South Koreans have so far been
restrained in their response and look to be seeking recourse through
further U.N. sanctions in the coming days. The United States, for its
part, must stand with its South Korean ally and the international
community, and send a firm and unambiguous message that North Korean
aggression is not acceptable and will be met with consequences.
Click here to
read the full article.
Nina Hachigian and
Winny Chen, "President Obama's Progressive China Policy," Center for
American Progress, May 21, 2010
On the eve of this year’s Strategic and Economic Dialogue meeting
between senior U.S. and Chinese government officials in Beijing, recent
headlines highlight that the United States can work with China, that we
must work with China, that we will always champion its own interests
and values while doing so—and why these efforts can be
exceedingly frustrating.
Click here to
read the full article.
Michael Werz and
Winny Chen, "We Share More Than a Fence," Center for American Progress,
May 20, 2010
Mexican President Felipe Calderon spoke at a White House press
conference yesterday and a joint session of Congress today about some
of the common challenges the United States and Mexico
face—migration, international criminal networks and common
security, and climate change. The Obama administration has, after many
years of neglect under President George W. Bush, initiated a new era of
hemispheric politics. Mexico is the closest and most important partner
in this endeavor and, as the Obama administration recognizes, deserves
greater support from its neighbor to the north.
Click here to
read the full article.
USA Today - Caroline Wadhams discusses
recent attacks on international military bases in Kabul and Kandahar:
"We're putting more troops on the ground and more in the south where
the security is more difficult... I think it's inevitable we're going
to see more violence, because there are going to be more targets."
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