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February 24, 2009
Expert Brief
Brazen assassinations, kidnappings, and political intimidation by drug lords conjure up images of Colombia in the early 1990s. Yet today it is Mexico that is being engulfed by escalating violence, and U.S. gun laws, immigration rules, drug control and border policies all have exacerbated the problems.
See more in Mexico, Society and Culture
March 28, 2008
Must Read
The American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead the fight against the insurgency in Afghanistan. C. J. Chivers writes that much of this ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc and has been deemed unreliable and obsolete.
See more in United States, Afghanistan
March 6, 2008
Daily Analysis
Washington worries the new civilian government in Islamabad may put a halt to its plans for increased U.S. military action within Pakistan.
See more in United States, Pakistan, U.S. Strategy and Politics
August 6, 2007
Interview
F. Gregory Gause, a leading Saudi Arabia expert, says the U.S. plan to sell some $20 billion in sophisticated military hardware to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states is part of a concerted effort in Washington to get the Saudis to ease their hard line toward the Iraqi government.
See more in Middle East, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 7, 2007
Daily Analysis
As China increases its military spending, the Taiwanese president ups the independence ante.
See more in China, Taiwan, Sovereignty
December 19, 2006
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
See more in Defense Strategy, Intelligence, Weapons of Terrorism
December 2006
Must Read
The GAO identifies weaknesses and recommends improvements for U.S. agencies that deter the illegal export of military products.
November 1, 2006
Backgrounder
The flow of Russian conventional weapons to Iran—notably sophisticated surface-to-air defense missiles—has increased markedly of late, complicating U.S.-led efforts to tamp Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
See more in Russian Fed., Iran
November 1, 2006
Daily Analysis
Closer Russia-Iran ties, as evidenced by their growing conventional arms trade, may complicate efforts to sanction Tehran for its alleged nuclear weapons program at the UN Security Council.
See more in Russian Fed., Iran
July 15, 2006
Must Read
In this Center for Strategic and International Studies brief, Anthony Cordesmann wars that despite significant arms transfers, analysts are overestimating Iran's influence over Hezbollah's latest actions.
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Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
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