News
US-Iran Nuclear Negotiations
As the November 24 deadline for a final deal approaches, it is important to be able to decipher what the US administration offers Iran.
Shift in War Footing Affects Tampa Area Defense Industry
It’s been a tough few years for Tampa’s defense industry. With the war in Iraq ending in 2011 and about two-thirds of the remaining 30,000 U.S. troops set to leave Afghanistan by the end of the year, the Pentagon was on a course to reduce its global footprint and the White House and Congress were planning to chop the war funding that went with it.
China’s Deadly Missile Arsenal Is Growing: What Should America Do about It?
Russian violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) should push the United States to reconsider the continued value of the agreement for global security. Abrogating or modifying the treaty to allow the deployment of INF-class weapons to Asia, however, would bring with it substantial political, military, and budgetary risks while producing benefits that are murky at best. Evan Montgomery—a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments—in these digital pages has made one of the stronger casesfor the United States acquiring forward-deployed intermediate weapons in Asia. However, even putting aside the potential for unintended consequences for security in other regions and for broader nonproliferation norms associated with renegotiating and modifying the INF, it is unclear if intermediate-range weapons could overcome the shortcomings of forward-based military forces or produce sufficient benefits to justify their costs.
Paying for Wars Against the Islamic State, Ebola and More
THE COST of the new U.S. military operation in Iraq and Syria is already approaching $1 billion, according to a study released last week. The Pentagon has meanwhile launched a $750 million mission to fight Ebola in Africa and has committed to rotating U.S. troops through NATO countries bordering Russia. These are all justified initiatives with broad support from Congress and the public. But the budgetary foundation needed to sustain them is crumbling.
The Pentagon’s No Limit Credit Card
The Pentagon has issued warnings that with recent cuts it is facing a money crunch made much worse by the new missions in Iraq and Syria.
Sidestepping Cuts, US Likely to Use ‘War Credit Card’ to Pay for Iraq-Syria Action
The Pentagon has been issuing dire warnings this year that the military is fast approaching a severe money crunch — a problem compounded now by the war in Iraq and Syria.