What we are reading

posted by Paul Hamill on January 25, 2012 at 2:01 pm

Kerry: Syria getting very close to civil war

Josh Rogin /The Cable

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry (D-MA) told The Cable that Syria is “pretty close” to a civil war, but declined to say that the United States should start providing material support to the opposition.

Development is less about infrastructure, more about institutions

GEORGE ROTER / Globe and Mail

Let’s start by getting this out of the way: There is much about foreign aid that works…. It is far from a conclusive answer to poverty, but aid can transform lives by creating the basic conditions required for a people to prosper: good health, access to education and responsible governance. From this fertile soil much can grow, and does.

Iran’s Asymmetric Threat

Raoul Heinrichs/ The Diplomat

Iran’s navy may not be a match for the U.S. on the high seas, but the Strait of Hormuz offers plenty of ways for it to make life tricky.

How an embargo of Iranian oil could affect markets

The U.S. and Europe are trying to stop Iran, the world’s third-biggest oil exporter, from selling crude. Iran’s response is to threaten to disrupt shipments from the entire Middle East.

Obama’s Commander-In-Chief Strategy

Michael Hirsh / National Journal

Oddly enough, Obama’s greatest strength has been a JFK-like willingness, even eagerness, to use hard power, if mainly covertly. There is, of course, the bin Laden mission, about which you will be hearing a great deal more over the next nine months. Obama himself gave us a preview at his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, when he opened things up by declaring he’d just welcomed troops home from Iraq and “for the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country. Most of al Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated.”

Angela Merkel casts doubt on saving Greece from financial meltdown

Ian Traynor / The Guardian

Angela Merkel has cast doubt for the first time on Europe‘s chances of saving Greece from financial meltdown and sovereign default, conceding that Europe’s first ever multibillion bailout coupled with savage austerity was not working after two years of crisis that has brought the single currency to the brink of unravelling.

On the ASP Flashpoint blog:

Holland: American Competitiveness in the State of the Union

There was some good proposals for America’s Economic Competitiveness in the State of the Union, but we must guard against the temptation of a short-term fix that can harm us in the long term.

Foust: National Security in The State of the Union

While we applaud a reaffirmation of American values and the primary place they should have in our role in the world, the reality of American foreign policy is, sadly, not in step with such aspirations. A values-based foreign policy would be an interesting goal to work toward, but it would require threatening too many of American interests, including the fight against al Qaeda, that such talk only serves to set up disappointment, rather than optimism.

Wallin: Why the 1950s Represented the Pinnacle of Military Technology

It would certainly seem that the value of American engineering peaked between the 1950s and early 1960s. The Lockheed U-2 spy plane, which first flew in 1955, is now approaching 57 years old. Originally due to be retired in 2015 and replaced by the unmanned Global Hawk system, it’s now expected that the dragonfly-like aircraft will remain in service until 2023, at the grand old age of 68 years. Though this sound incredible, and it is, it’s also not unprecedented, and represents the efficiency of investment that the U.S. military can and should make.

Lum: ASP Fellow Joshua Foust speaks at Center for National Policy Event

Mr. Foust said that: “Politics is the U.S.’s Achilles heel in Afghanistan. We, as a country, never put in the hard work to understand them at a local, regional, national, and international level”.

ASP Event with Norm Augustine: “Science is the Ultimate Revolution”

Norm Augustine, a member of ASP’s board and one of the country’s leading businessmen, joined us at ASP this morning to talk about how America’s future is tied to Research and Development (R&D) and our expertise in science and technology. This event market the launch of a letter to Congressional leadership on the importance of funding for basic R&D as well as a fact-sheet “Research and Development as a National Priority.” I had the opportunity to speak for a bit, but Norm Augustine was the clear star of the show – so I will devote this post to some of what he said.

Science and engineering are changing the world. This is exemplified by the advancement in telecommunications technology seen over the last century which has allowed for the free and rapid exchange of information from any origin to any destination.

About the American Security Project: The American Security Project is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges.