In today’s Washington Post, ASP Board Member and U.S. Senator John Kerry laid out a strategy for moving forward in Afghanistan.  Senator Kerry praises President Obama’s decision to focus on Afghanistan as the center of the counterinsurgency campaign but makes the point clear that “Afghanistan is not Iraq, and we should not expect the same [...]

Good story in the Washington Post today about some specific programs that might be facing cuts: Defense Industry in the Line of Fire.
The key here is to remember that cuts in individual programs are not synonymous with cuts in the overall budget. Public debate on this issue is often startling sloppy. Every campaign [...]

Addressing the members at the Sustainable Development Summit in New Dehli, Senator John Kerry reaffrimed America’s committment to “to lead on these issues after years on the sidelines of climate change negotiations.”  During his remarks, Senator Kerry also noted that India’s climate plan, announced last year by the prime minister, was notably lacking in fixed [...]

ASP Board Member Senator John Kerry will speak to international leaders via video link during a three day conference in New Dehli regarding sustainable development.  According to an article in AFP, much of the focus of the talks will be on the United State and the Obama Administration’s new climate change policies and will have an audience that [...]

In an article for Salon.com, Glenn Greenwald takes apart Robert Kagan’s Op-Ed.  Using the graph below, Greenwald shows U.S. defense spending from 2001-2010. 

In  previous posts, we have addressed the misconception that President Obama is “cutting” the defense budget for FY2009.  However, we are not alone in our debunking of Robert Kagan-esque arguments.  Numerous bloggers have addressed this as well.
Spencer Ackerman discusses the follies of the Robert Kagan Op-Ed on “Attackerman.”
Meteor Blades of “Daily Kos” also pokes large holes in the [...]

If you listen carefully, you can hear a rumbling in the distance.  It’s the first salvos in an old debate about defense spending.  There are those who think spending is too high and needs to be cut to pay for other priorities, whether they are domestic programs or other non-kinetic means of national power.  There are [...]

We are officially through the looking glass in the current debate over the U.S. defense budget. Today, the Washington Post published a lunatic op-ed by Robert Kagan (Defending the Defense Budget) where he urges President Obama not to “cut” the defense budget.  The reason for Kagan’s concern is a recent guidance issued by the [...]

American Security Project Senior Fellow Bernard Finel recently took part in an online discussion hosted by the Cato Institute.  The discussion, entitled “Keep Calm and Carry On: How to Talk about Terrorism,” focused on how to talk about terrorism, how to evaluate risks, and how craft sensible public policy even under the intense pressure of [...]

The Associated Press ran this article about possible places to move detainees from Guantanamo Bay after the detention center closes.  The AP suggested moving detainees to U.S. prisons, which are already severely overcrowded. 
Recently, ASP highlighted the many challenges with closing Guantanamo and how to handle terrorist suspects.  Read ASP’s white papers here.