Below, please find the latest articles to have appeared in print and electronic media about CSIS and its experts. For your reference, there is also a link to archived media coverage of CSIS.
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor, "Could North Korea Still Make Nukes?"
North Korea's destruction last week of the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear facility was a spectacular piece of geopolitical theater. But as the concrete crumbled, did Pyongyang's ability to produce plutonium really crumble as well? [. . .]"None of the steps North Korea has taken thus far are irreversible, but the destruction of this tower makes it harder to reconstitute their plutonium program," said Jon Wolfsthal of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in an analysis of the issue. Read More
July 1
Jon Woflsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Voice of America, "U.S. Says Verification Key to North Korea Deal."
Last week North Korea submitted a long-awaited document that listed its nuclear holdings. North Korean officials also demolished the cooling tower at the country's Yongbyon nuclear reactor. The moves are viewed as key steps to ending the nation's nuclear weapons program, a long sought goal of the United States and North Korea's neighbors. [...] "The main thing I take from Ambassador Hill's comments is that this is a problem that is going to be left to the successor of President Bush," said Jon Wolfsthal, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It is clear that the verification, the actual denuclearization of North Korea is not going to happen under President Bush's watch." Read the article
June 29
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Analysis: Iran Harder Sell on Giving Up Nukes."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Iran and North Korea may be two points on President Bush's old ''axis of evil,'' but the authoritarian governments are polar opposites when it comes to defusing their nuclear programs.''I think that President Bush correctly, as we've seen on North Korea, as we're seeing on Iran, recognizes that there are issues you simply can't let drift,'' said Jon Wolfsthal, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has visited nuclear facilities in both countries.Read more
June 27
Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Reuters, "North Korea Set to Destroy Reactor Cooling Tower."
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is set to blow up the cooling tower at its nuclear plant on Friday, a symbolic move to show its commitment to a disarmament deal a day after it handed over a long-delayed account of its nuclear program. "The problem is that they always feel that they can continue to game the system and appear to keep the window open -- actions like blowing up cooling towers on TV for propaganda effect that I'm not sure have much practical effect," said Derek Mitchell, Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Read more
June 27
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the New York Times, "A Diplomatic Success That Defies the Critics."
WASHINGTON — North Korea’s declaration of its nuclear activities is a triumph of the sort of diplomacy — complicated, plodding, often frustrating — that President Bush and his aides once eschewed as American weakness.“The last six months in the administration is the wrong time to present these ideas,” said Jon Wolfsthal, a proliferation expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, who credited the president for his evolution on North Korea and other issues. Read more
June 27
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Bloomberg, "Bush North Korea Feat May Leave Successor Hard Work."
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's feat in prying an inventory of nuclear facilities and materials from North Korea is tenuous and may leave the most contentious issues between the two nations to his successor, analysts say. "This is a baby step,'' said Jon Wolfsthal, a proliferation expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington who once monitored North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear site for the Energy Department. "The most I'm hoping for is something that the next administration can actually pick up.'' Read more
June 27
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by CNN.com, "N. Korea Destroys Nuclear Reactor Tower."
PYONGYANG, North Korea (CNN) -- North Korea has destroyed a highly visible tower at a facility where officials acknowledge they extracted plutonium to build nuclear weapons, according to reports."This is a critical piece of equipment for the nuclear reactor," said analyst Jon Wolfsthal, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who has been following North Korea since the 1980s. "Without this facility, the reactor can't operate and can't produce more plutonium for weapons."Read more
June 27
Nathan Freier, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Wall Street Journal, "Iraq, U.S. Struggle to Hit Deadline for Military Presence Pact."
Immunity for U.S. troops remains a stumbling block. The U.S. says eliminating immunity for troops in combat situations is unacceptable, while the Iraqis say it is an important condition to uphold Iraqi sovereignty. "These talks are an important part of the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Iraq as things improve there," said retired Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freier, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The Iraqi government is taking on more responsibilities, but given the politicization and immaturity of the Iraqi judicial system, American soldiers would be at risk if immunity is dropped." Security agreements such as this usually take several years to negotiate and are worked out with countries that are at peace, which makes the talks with Iraq an unusual case.Read more
June 27
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by CNN.com, "North Korea's Motivation? Survival, Experts Say."
North Korea's apparent cooperation with nations seeking to end its nuclear weapons ambitions — six years after a deal collapsed and two years after testing a bomb — may lead to questions about why it would play ball now. One school of thought: The communist nation, in desperate economic straits, has long been willing to drop its program for better relations with the United States. But mistakes on both sides interfered, according to Jim Walsh, a national security analyst. [...] Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' international security program, said North Korea has been "remarkably consistent" regarding its reactions to U.S. positions. "When we've engaged them directly, they have responded. And when we have reduced our commitment, to our engagement ... they have responded negatively," Wolfsthal said.Read the article
June 26
David Berteau, director of the CSIS Defense Industrial Initiatives Group, was quoted by the Washington Post, "Government Cites Litany of Errors in Tanker Award."
The Air Force bungled its biggest procurement deal to spend $40 billion to buy new aerial refueling tankers to replace its aging fleet, federal investigators declared last week. But what wasn't publicly known until yesterday was just how badly they did so."This is a damning report," said David Berteau, a senior defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It is baffling to me: how did so many smart people at high levels at the Pentagon come to the conclusion that the process was so well done and announce a winner, and then we see a GAO report that gives them a black eye in running a smooth, fair procurement process." Read more
June 26
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Bush Falls Short of Grand Goals on North Korea."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seven years of tough talk by President Bush failed to stop North Korea from enlarging its stockpile of nuclear bombs on his watch and Bush's administration is winding down with deep doubts about whether Pyongyang really intends to abandon its weapons program.One area where there is widespread agreement is that North Korea has more nuclear weapons now -- or at least the plutonium to make them -- than when Bush came into office.''He's leaving his successor a problem that is much worse than the one he inherited,'' said Jon Wolfsthal, who served as a U.S. onsite monitor at North Korea's nuclear complex at Yongbyon and is now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ''They might have had one or two nuclear weapons when he came into office. We weren't sure. And now they've got 10 and we are.''Read more
June 25
Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow with the CSIS Internaternational National Security Program, was quoted by the Washington Post, "Vietnamese Premier Meets with Bush, Gates."
President Bush met with the prime minister of Vietnam yesterday to discuss closer ties on trade and greater religious freedom, signifying another step forward in the slow warming of relations between the United States and its communist former enemy. Derek Mitchell, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said U.S. officials treat religious freedom and other human rights concerns as part of broader negotiations with Vietnam that are focused on improving trade and economic ties. "It's being dealt with in a way similar to China, which is as part of a dialogue and not front and center," Mitchell said. "It's a very careful, step-by-step move forward in the relationship, but each step is substantial." Read more
June 24
Nathan Freier, a senior fellow in the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the New York Times, "Government Study Faults Bush Administration's Measures of Progress in Iraq."
Beyond the declines in overall violence in Iraq, several crucial measures the Bush administration uses to demonstrate economic, political and security progress are either incorrect or far more mixed than the administration has acknowledged, according to a report released Monday by the Government Accountability Office."Clearly there are substantial changes in the security situation on the ground," said Nathan Freier, a retired Army officer who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2007 and is now a senior fellow in the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.The administration prefers to focus on those improvements, Mr. Freier said. But the accountability office report, which Mr. Freier read on Monday, and his own observations in Iraq contain a different message, he said. Read more
June 22
Bonnie Glaser, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Agence France Press, "New US President Seen Unlikely to Confront China."
Despite their rhetoric, White House aspirants Barack Obama and John McCain are unlikely to adopt a confrontational approach towards China even as it flexes its military and economic muscles, experts say. [. . .]While the two presidential candidates are expected to give continued importance to the China relationship, US ties with Japan could be the centerpiece of Asia policy under a McCain administration, said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.Read More
June 19
Kathleen Hicks, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted in InsidethePentagon.com, "Defense Officials Eye Tweaking of Core DOD Management Tool."
Pentagon officials are eying an expansion of the Defense Department’s bedrock resource management mechanism by adding a formal process for assessing how well the department’s plans, programs and budgets help meet national security goals, sources tell InsideDefense.com. [ . . .] Kathleen Hicks, a former Pentagon official and now a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for International and Strategic Studies, said DOD officials are “on the right track” in contemplating the integration of a formal assessment process into PPBS. “It’s incredibly important to assess of how we connect the ways, ends and means,” she said. But, she argued, the success of the process will depend on how Pentagon leaders configure their staffs to conduct assessments and implement the findings. Read More (Requires Subscription)
June 19
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Financial Times, "Pentagon Admits to Weakness in Nuclear Records."
The Pentagon has played down reports that the US military cannot locate hundreds of sensitive nuclear missile components. Several government officials told the FT on Wednesday a secret Pentagon report into nuclear safeguards had found the air force could not account for many components previously included in its inventory. One said more than 1,000 were missing. [...] Jon Wolfsthal, a nuclear expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “The US has to be the world leader in security and stewardship of its nuclear assets. No mistakes are permissible. Imagine how states will react now when the US urges them to improve nuclear security. How do we press Pakistan, India, Russia and others to get more serious about their security?” Read the article
Robert Einhorn, a senior adviser with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Time Magazine, "Bush Prepares a Messy Iran Handoff."
The news this week that A. Q. Khan's now-defunct international nuclear smuggling network once possessed blueprints for advanced nuclear warheads — and could have sold them to Iran — gave new urgency to Washington's stalled efforts to halt Tehran's pursuit of nuclear capability. But with only seven months left of his presidency, George W. Bush has few options — and none of them is likely to work. "He's kind of stuck," says Robert Einhorn, a nonproliferation expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Read the article
June 18
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was cited by Slate.com, "What Does a Nuclear Blueprint Look Like?"
The notorious A.Q. Khan smuggling ring had its hands on the design for a sophisticated and compact nuclear weapon, according to a new report from a former U.N. arms inspector. In 2006, electronic blueprints for the device were discovered on hard drives in several countries. What does a nuclear weapon blueprint look like? [. . .] Explainer thanks David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security, Matthew Bunn of Harvard University, Philip E. Coyle III of the Center for Defense Information, Randall Larsen of the Institute for Homeland Security, and Jon Wolfsthal of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Read More
June 15
Stephen Flanagan, CSIS senior vice president and director of the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Bush is Straight-Talker, So What's EU-3?"
President Bush is a straight-talking guy, so what's he doing talking about the EU-3? It's part of Bush diplomatic-speak. Derided by some as a cowboy during his first term, Bush is ending his presidency knee-deep in group diplomacy. [...] Regardless of their outcome, Bush's willingness to join in these diplomatic huddles has helped restore U.S.-European relations, said Steve Flanagan, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' international security program in Washington. The first foreign trip Bush took in his second term, for instance, was to Brussels, base of the European Union. That was seen as an admission by the Bush administration that it might not have utilized the Atlantic alliance as effectively as it could have in the first term, Flanagan said. Read the article
June 10
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the International Security Program, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Bush and Allies Embrace Possible Iran Sanctions."
KRANJ, Slovenia (AP) — President Bush claimed progress Tuesday in his legacy-shaping drive to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, winning European promises to tighten pressure on Tehran with U.N. sanctions and possibly other new penalties. But Jon Wolfsthal, an expert in the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said they won't have much impact. Bush has little leverage left with either Iran or Europe, he said, and the chances of getting Russia and China to go along with any new U.N. sanctions proposal are remote, he said. He said European cooperation on banking restrictions were due to widespread recognition that the Iran program "cannot be allowed to drift until the United States has a new president." Read more
Nathan Freier, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Deaths in Iraq Plunge, But Will it Last?"
BAGHDAD—U.S. military deaths plunged in May to the lowest monthly level in more than four years and civilian casualties were down sharply, too, as Iraqi forces assumed the lead in offensives in three cities and a truce with Shiite extremists took hold."If you look at it in terms of a video recorder, a lot of the groups have pushed pause, but that's not to say they can't push play again," said Nathan Freier, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Read more
Sam Brannen, a fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Bush: As Wars Rage, US Must Hold Firm."
President Bush said Wednesday that rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan is proving difficult as the wars rage on, and ''we're learning as we go.'' [ . .]The postwar analogy between World War II and today is ''patently false,'' said Sam Brannen, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The stateless enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq ''are not accountable to the same command-and-control structures that existed in Japan and Germany,'' he said.Read More
May 29
Robert Einhorn, a CSIS senior adviser, was quoted by Reuters, "Missile-Related Shipment to Syria Stopped, U.S. Says."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four countries last year prevented Syria from receiving equipment that could be used to test ballistic missile components, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.Robert Einhorn, a former assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation who is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, praised PSI but stressed that countries had made such efforts for years. "PSI was a good idea and it provides value added to what was done before," he said, saying holding exercises had created habits of cooperation and smoothed the way for joint action. Read more
May 28
Robert Einhorn, a CSIS Senior Adviser, was quoted by the Wall Street Journal, "McCain Pledges to Reduce U.S. Nuclear Weapons."
The McCain campaign was eager to characterize the speech as a break with the Bush administration. A memo with speech highlights prepared by an aide was titled, "Senator McCain Positions on Nuclear Security: Contrasts with the Bush Administration." Several outsiders agreed. Robert Einhorn, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an adviser to Sen. Clinton, said Sen. McCain's call for a binding treaty with Russia goes beyond what President Bush supports. Read More (requires login)
Robert Ebel, a senior advisor with the CSIS Energy and National Security Program, was quoted by the Politico, "Senators Take Rants to Oil Executives."
When all else fails, rant. That’s the congressional tradition that members of the Senate Judiciary Committee followed Wednesday when they grilled top oil executives on the skyrocketing price of oil and their record profits. [ . . .]"It’s a political year, it’s an election year, and you are not going to get much new through Congress," said Robert Ebel, chairman of the energy program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies. "They can stir the pot a little, but there is not much they can do." Read More
May 22
Guy Ben-Ari, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the International Herald Tribune, "EU Defense Spending May Clash with Military Goals."
European Union countries may have been deploying more troops abroad in recent years, but a new analysis questions whether the EU's goal of becoming a major defense and security player can be met when military spending among the 27 actually declined from 2001 to 2006. The report, released this week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, coincides with a major American reassessment of EU defense and security policy under which Washington would support a more muscular EU, provided that European defense spending was sufficient for a radical improvement in military capabilities on this side of the Atlantic. "Largely for political reasons, the EU member states cannot have any large increases in defense spending," Guy Ben-Ari, one of the authors of the analysis published in Washington, said in an interview. "There are other pressing priorities - for example, social welfare programs - and particularly against the background of aging populations."Read the article
Ashley Deeks, a visiting fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, had a commentary published on the University of Pittsburgh School of Law’s blog, “Guantanamo Detainee Transfers Put U.S. in Tight Spot.�
Last week the Department of Defense confirmed that Abdullah Saleh Ali al Ajmi, a former Guantanamo detainee, was one of the people responsible for three suicide bombings in Mosul in April, which reportedly killed seven members of the Iraqi security forces. While this event is, for several reasons, unlikely to cause significant changes to the U.S. government’s policies on transferring detainees out of Guantanamo, it may prompt debate about how best to address the real risks involved in those decisions. The al-Ajmi case highlights just how tightly the U.S. government is wedged between a rock and a hard place when it comes to closing Guantanamo, whether one believes that the U.S. government finds itself in this situation for the right reasons or the wrong ones. On the one hand, the government faces huge pressure not to detain people at Guantanamo indefinitely; on the other, it must grapple with proven concerns about releasing people who will take up arms and possibly injure U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians. The government must look for a balance that’s neither too restrictive nor too lenient -- an exercise that will be impossible to get right every time. Read More
Sam Brannen, a fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, had a commentary published in Small Wars Journal, "Leaving the Green Zone."
In the middle of Baghdad sits one of the United States’ greatest strategic liabilities in the Iraq war: a four square-mile swath of territory called the Green Zone (the “International Zone” when in polite company). Still crowded with the gaudy war memorials and palaces of Saddam’s regime that are too big to tear down, it is for many Iraqis the icon of U.S. occupation and a telling window into a post-surge security environment that looks more likely to loop back than move forward. The onetime seat of Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority, the Green Zone is now shared by the sprawling Embassy Baghdad, the core of Iraq’s central government, and thousands of international contractors, including the infamous Blackwater security details. Green Zone denizens live in trailers, sometimes stacked one on top of the other, accustomed to the blare of the incoming round siren and ducking for cover in evenly spaced cement bunkers that are a bizarre juxtaposition to swimming pools, palm trees, and marble buildings. Read more
May 9
A CSIS Event on "The Humanitarian Crisis in Burma" was quoted by the Associated Press, "U.S. Official: One Shipment to be Allowed into Myanmar."
YANGON, Myanmar -- The governing military junta in Myanmar has agreed to allow a single U.S. cargo aircraft to bring in relief supplies for victims of a devastating cyclone, the Bush administration said Friday. "This is a very vulnerable population, and a shock of this magnitude is going to take people right off the cliff," Luu told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a foreign affairs think tank in Washington.Read more
Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by US News and World Report, "Political Obstacles Slow Disaster Aid for Myanmar."
Myanmar's deep reluctance to admit the additional teams left a small number of aid workers already in the country struggling to cobble together deliveries of food and water to as many as 1 million people left homeless. "This regime is extremely paranoid and isolated and xenophobic," says Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The prospect of having all kinds of people from all over the world doing work they cannot really control or even monitor is troubling to them." The U.S. military offered to send Navy ships to aid in relief efforts. But the regime in Myanmar might not find that to be a reassuring offer, particularly after listening to years of senior U.S. officials' condemnations of the country's military leaders. "Even under the best of circumstances, nations that know the United States is out to get them would be suspicious," says Mitchell.Read more
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Agence France Presse, "U.S. Says it Does Not Trust North Korea."
A day after accusing North Korea of helping Syria build a covert nuclear reactor, the United States said Friday it did not trust the hardline communist state, which is negotiating to end its atomic weapons drive. "They can effectively argue that 'we don't need North Korea to provide a declaration (of its proliferation) because we already know what they have done with Syria and then perhaps it can be deemphasized in the negotiations," said Jon Wolfsthal, a weapons expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Read More
Nathan Freier, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Chicago Tribune, "Bush Elevates Petraeus to Run Both Wars."
WASHINGTON — With the decision announced Wednesday to elevate Gen. David Petraeus to lead the U.S. Central Command and Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno to succeed Petraeus as the commander in Iraq, the Bush administration laid the groundwork for the next president with a pair of generals who have spoken sternly about Iran and cautioned against pulling out of Iraq too quickly.Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freier, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was logical to promote Petraeus and Odierno to keep the "momentum" of the security gains in Iraq since the troop buildup was implemented last year.Read more
April 24
Nathan Freier, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Washington Post, "Bush Nominates Patraeus to Lead Central Command."
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and the public face of the war effort there, became President Bush's nominee yesterday to supervise U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia as head of Central Command, putting him in position to oversee American strategy in Iraq for years to come. "Petraeus has the opportunity to hand off with confidence and expand his area of control and responsibility," said Lt. Col. Nathan P. Freier, a former adviser to Odierno in Iraq.Read more
April 22
Christine Wormuth, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Washington Post, "Military Waivers for Ex-Convicts Increase."
The Army admitted about one-fourth more recruits last year with a record of legal problems ranging from felony convictions and serious misdemeanors to drug crimes and traffic offenses, as pressure to increase the size of U.S. ground forces led the military to grant more waivers for criminal conduct, according to new data released yesterday."It is absolutely an important indicator," said Christine Wormuth, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But," she added, "it won't mean 100 more Hadithas or cases of soldier abuse," referring to the November 2005 killing of as many as two dozen civilians by Marines in Haditha, Iraq. Read more
April 22
Kathleen Hicks, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor, "A New U.S. Focus on Nation-Building."
George W. Bush resisted calls to do nation-building during his 2000 campaign, but eight years later, his cabinet is making fundamental changes to reorganize the way the American government can prop up countries around the world. As the US spends billions to build the military and governance capacity of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration finds it has no choice but to support such efforts in other emerging countries. "I would argue that what it will do over time is just continue to emasculate the civilian agencies," says Kathleen Hicks, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington. "[The State Department] is never going to be able to compete with money and people, and if the mission goes, then you'll continue to rely on the military." Read the article
April 20
Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Washington Post, "Bush, S. Korean President Suggest More Patience with Kim Jong Il."
President Bush and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak urged patience yesterday in nuclear talks with North Korea, arguing that recent concessions proposed by the United States could lead to tangible progress in stalled negotiations with Pyongyang. Bush and Lee, appearing at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, sought to tamp down criticism from many of Bush's fellow Republicans, who say the United States is yielding too much ground in six-nation negotiations with the North Korean government. [...] But Derek J. Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Lee's focus on issues such as the beef pact and visa waivers suggests he is "laying the groundwork" for relations with the next U.S. president. "I think he's looking a bit past this administration," Mitchell said. "He's saying, 'We're back as an ally, and we're going to change as a place to do business and invest.' " Read the article
Nathan Freier, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Son of Dutch Defense Chief Killed in Afghanistan."
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The son of the Dutch defense chief was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, and the Taliban claimed they deliberately made the young lieutenant a high-profile target.Lt. Col. Nathan Freier, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there is an ongoing debate in the military about putting high-profile soldiers in the field. Soldiers with well-known parents often come from families with a military tradition, and holding them back can become a point of contention within the family, Freier said.Read more
April 17
Brian Harding, a research associate with the International Security Program, had a commentary published by World Politics Review, "Engaging ASEAN, One Step at a Time."
In a move hailed by Southeast Asian heads of state and ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, the U.S. Senate April 9 confirmed Scot Marciel as the first U.S. ambassador for ASEAN affairs. The move comes at a key time in the development of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an institution, after the organization adopted a landmark charter in November 2007 that, among other things, obliges member countries to appoint permanent, senior representatives to the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta. The appointment of Marciel is a significant gesture, making the United States the first ASEAN partner country to create such a position. It also arrives on the heels of a significant U.S. pledge in February to help ASEAN's organizational evolution and suggests that the United States has recognized the importance of high-level, proactive U.S. policy toward ASEAN. This new attention is overdue. The United States has paid little notice to Southeast Asia in recent years due to more pressing concerns in the Middle East and South Asia, and with its scant attention to East Asia focused on China. During this time, the United States has gradually ceded its predominant influence in Southeast Asia as a rising China, reassertive Japan, and emerging India have moved in to become major regional players alongside it.Read the article
April 10
Kathleen Hicks, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted in InsideDefense.com, "Service Chiefs Approve New 'Shaping' Concept, But with New Title."
The military service chiefs have approved a key guidance document describing how field commanders should promote U.S. interests worldwide during peacetime in an attempt to preclude future American military intervention, Pentagon officials tell InsideDefense.com. [. . .] Military operations during "Phase 0," which is Pentagon jargon for peacetime, are not new for DOD, according to Kathleen Hicks, a former Pentagon official who now is a senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.Read the article
Kathleen Hicks, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, had a commentary published in Defense News, "Culture Issues Await Next DoD Chief."
In less than a year, the United States will inaugurate a new president. Already, Beltway defense pundits are buzzing with speculation about the next secretary of defense’s identity, priorities and leadership style.The Department of Defense is a uniquely challenging organization to govern effectively — from its scale and complexity, to Title 10 divisions between providers (services) and customers (combatant commands), to the dynamics of the so-called iron triangle.Now is the time to think about how the next secretary and his senior leadership team can tame the rampant forces of disunity and inefficiency that plague the defense bureaucracy.Read more
April 7
Guy Ben-Ari, fellow, International Security Program, was quoted by Defense News "’Managed Economy' Pressures Smaller U.S. Space Firms to Consolidate."
When the U.S. Defense Department launches a satellite, it basically has one choice - United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. And when it wants to build a satellite, the selection is nearly as limited. [. . .] Unlike in the United States, smaller satellite companies take the lead on large government space programs abroad. Examples include France and the United Kingdom, a leader in the micro and nano satellite domain, and Israel, whose resources and requirements have made smaller satellites more attractive than the larger satellites the United States uses, said Guy Ben-Ari, a fellow of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Read More
April 4
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Associated Press, "US-India Nuclear Deal's Future Uncertain."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Jeopardized by an Indian political squabble, the landmark U.S.-India nuclear deal -- one of President Bush's top foreign policy priorities -- is at risk of being left to an uncertain fate when the next president takes office in January. Jon Wolfsthal, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and an adviser to the Clinton campaign, says that if India should fail to act this year, ''It's unlikely that any of the (U.S.) candidates will be anxious to resubmit this or push this ahead.'' The Bush administration, Wolfsthal said, wanted to win over India as ''a strategic military partner to help contain China.'' McCain, Clinton and Obama, he said, do not have the same drive to settle the deal. Read the article
April 1
Sam Brannen, a fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, had a commentary published in World Politics Review, “In Basra, Another Victory for Moqtada al-Sadr."
The unnerving footage of the black-turbaned, hirsute, pudgy-faced, snarling, 30-something Moqtada al-Sadr has reappeared on television screens across the world. Wrapped in his black cloak and eyes pointed down at a script, he rattles off his statement to a bouquet of microphones, flanked by a posse of grinning henchmen, occasionally raising a finger for emphasis. His gravitas is his very presence: an outlaw who dares show his face. With his new nine-point plan, he is Iraq's most important politician currently outside the government, exercising a seeming ability to turn a full-scale insurgency on or off at will. Gen. David Petraeus appears powerless to contest him without again rupturing the more manageable levels of violence in Iraq, and the country's government is frozen in its tracks. In the aftermath of the ceasefire in Basra, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told the al-Iraqiya television service, "We came here to pursue criminal gangs and murderers . . . our forces were not ready for this battle and we were surprised." The moment of decisiveness for Iraq's government touted by President Bush on Friday became by Sunday yet another detour in the political course of the country. Maliki's might turned a muddle and quickly a mess-up.Read the commentary
April 1
Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room, "President Bush Urged to Boycott Olympics."
Happening now, oil execs defend their record profits on Capitol Hill. That's providing more fuel for the Democratic candidates, out pitching their energy ideas to the voters. Chelsea Clinton says, "it's none of your business" when voters keep asking her how her mother dealt with the impact of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Do they have a right to know? And a note to America's foes — don't mess with Condoleezza Rice when she's not working. The secretary of state is working out. DEREK MITCHELL, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: China views this as its statement to the world that it's arrived. That it's a major power. They desperately wanted these Olympics. Read the transcript
Rick Barton, codirector of the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project, and Julianne Smith, director of the CSIS Europe Program, were quoted by Government Executive, "Shortage of helicopters hampers troops in Afghanistan, observers say."
When President Bush travels to the NATO summit this week he is expected to push member nations to commit additional ground forces to Afghanistan to battle a resurgent Taliban force. While additional troops will help, some say the need for more helicopters to ferry soldiers and equipment on the battlefield is just as critical. [. . .] he helicopter shortfall is critical because Afghanistan's nascent security forces, spread out in isolated security posts, cannot depend on U.S. and European military firepower if they run into sizable Taliban groups. The Afghan security forces "need to know that they can be saved when they are being attacked," said Rick Barton, director of the Post Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Read More
March 28
Christine Wormuth, a senior fellow in the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the USA Today, "Bonuses Boost Reserve's Recruitment."
The Army Reserve has reversed a serious recruiting drought by significantly increasing the amount of cash bonuses it pays to recruit and keep soldiers to bolster ranks thinned by five years of war in Iraq. In 2007, it paid out $315 million in recruiting and retention bonuses. That's a 46% increase over 2006. That year, the Reserve paid $216 million in bonuses while falling 5% short of its recruiting goal. [...] Although the money has helped the Reserve meet its recruiting goals, the ever-increasing bonuses cannot be sustained, said Christine Wormuth, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former Pentagon official. "Pretty soon we won't be able to afford the force," she said.Read the article
Bonnie Glaser, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times, "U.S. Says Missile Parts Mistakenly Sent to Taiwan."
The U.S. military mistakenly shipped parts from a Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile to Taiwan, Pentagon officials announced Tuesday in the second incident to come to light in recent months in which nuclear weapons were mishandled. [...] Bonnie S. Glaser, an expert on China and Taiwan at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said she doubted the latest incident would further strain relations. U.S. officials have twice halted Taiwan's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, Glaser said. China frequently objects to the U.S. providing conventional weapons systems to Taiwan, but Glaser said she doubted the Chinese would see that the shipment was anything other than a mistake. "I think the Chinese would have to be incredibly sensitive and paranoid to think the United States would be arming Taiwan with nuclear capabilities," Glaser said. "It runs counter to everything we have done in the past, not to mention is contrary to our interests."Read the article
Teresita Schaffer, director of the CSIS South Asia Program, and Robert Einhorn, senior advisor ISP< were quoted by BBC News, "Has Time Run Out for US-India Nuclear Deal?"
Ashish Kumar Sen in Washington canvasses the views of US experts on the prospects for India's controversial nuclear deal with the US coming to fruition. [. . .] Teresita Schaffer, director of the South Asia programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), says that if the agreement doesn't go through "there will inevitably be misgivings and some feeling that India wasn't really ready for the big leagues". [. . .]Robert Einhorn thinks that if the deal fails in India over domestic political reasons a new US administration may want to let the dust settle for quite a while before considering what to do next. Read More
Stephen Flanagan, CSIS Senior Vice President and director of the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Business News Europe, "Georgia, Ukraine Won't Be Offered Membership Plans at NATO Summit."
"Nato member governments are not ready to offer MAP to Ukraine and Georgia," says Stephen J. Flanagan, senior vice president and director of the International Security Program at the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "There are doubts about the depth of support for Nato membership in Ukraine, uncertainty about political trends in Georgia, and concerns that the move would further strain relations with Russia. However, the US and others will want to be sure that this reluctance does not send a message that Moscow's confrontational diplomacy is successful. The allies will look for some concrete steps short of MAP to enhance dialogue with Ukraine and Georgia that would keep Nato's door open."Read the article
March 11
Steven Pifer, a CSIS senior adviser, was quoted by the Associated Press, "Poland's Tusk Indicates Talks on Track Over U.S. Missile Shield."
A White House visit by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk seemed to ease tension with the United States stemming from Poland's demand for military aid in exchange for allowing U.S. missile defense interceptors on its soil. . . ''Poland is a little nervous about Russia and they are looking at what happens in 2009,'' said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. diplomat who is now an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ''Having a good meeting was important, but I suspect that as they do the details, Poland is going to want to get something locked in concrete.'' Read More
March 11
Stephen Flanagan, CSIS senior vice-president and director of the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times, "Clinton, Obama Each Reach for Retired Brass."
In the memorable political ad, the White House telephone rings at 3 a.m. But at retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste's office, the phone has been ringing at all hours, for months. The calls have been coming from the campaigns of presidential candidates, which are scrambling to add him to their lists of prominent supporters in uniform. [...] "On the Democratic side you have two candidates who do not have military experience or direct experience in managing national security or military affairs," said Stephen Flanagan, director of the International Security Program for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington public-policy organization. "And this has become a little more urgent running against a war hero." Read the article
March 10
Bonnie Glaser, a senior associate with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times, "A Legacy of Lost Hopes in Taiwan."
HSICHUANG, Taiwan - A few yards from the four-room house where President Chen Shui-bian grew up, a life-size cutout leans against a wall. Tourists used to arrive in droves and have their photo taken with the "president," earning neighbors a steady income. These days the visitors are largely gone, the prop weather-worn and seemingly forgotten.Taiwan's ties with China have not necessarily worsened over the last eight years. In fact, China was very suspicious of Chen from the beginning, said Bonnie Glaser, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Read the article
February 28
Sam Brannen, a fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, had a commentary published in World Politics Review, "The United States Growing Political Entitlement in Iraq."
Last week, the U.S.-led Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) had nothing but praise for Shiite theocrat-wannabe Moqtada al-Sadr. Prefacing his name with "al-Sayyid" (the Honorable), the United States acknowledged al-Sadr's legitimacy in the Iraqi political scene as U.S. commanders warmly embraced his decision to maintain a ceasefire between his roughly 60,000-strong illegal militia (Jaish al-Mahdi or JAM) and Iraqi government and coalition forces. With a tenuous domestic political situation in Iraq, the United States had no choice but to shake hands with the devil. Without question, the short-term effects of the U.S. surge strategy have been highly positive: significant reductions of violence in almost every province in the country, and especially in Baghdad, the epicenter of the insurgency. Hundreds of U.S. and likely thousands of Iraqi lives have been saved. This is due not only to the proper application of counterinsurgency doctrine and improvements in training and equipping Iraqi security forces, but also to a significant shift by the United States toward political accommodation with former enemies. Read the article
CSIS Senior Fellow Jon B. Wolfsthal and Toby Dalton have written a chapter on the US-ROK nuclear relationship for the book Understanding New Political Realities in Seoul: Working toward a Common Approach to Strengthen U.S.-Korean Relations.
CSIS Senior Fellow Jon B. Wolfsthal and Toby Dalton have written a chapter on the US-ROK nuclear relationship for the book Understanding New Political Realities in Seoul: Working toward a Common Approach to Strengthen U.S.-Korean Relations (Mansfield Center 2008). The chapter, entitled "Harmonic Convergence? The Maturing US-ROK Nuclear Relationship", assesses the impact the election of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak may have on US-ROK nuclear policies and explores how key issues, such as efforts to denuclearize North Korea and the future direction of US-ROK civilian nuclear cooperation, may unfold under the new administration in Seoul. Links to other chapters in the book can be found at the Political Realities in Seoul: Working toward a Common Approach to Strengthen U.S.-Korean Relations website.
Kathleen Hicks, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the BBC report "President Bush on Africa Tour."
Kathleen Hicks, CSIS: "The strong sense you get in some places in Africa is that this is a potentially new imperialist era – that we’re attempting to colonize Africa, that particularly with the presence of China in Africa, that the US is somehow trying to start a new cold war with China – and the US divvying up or vying for leadership on the continent or allies on the continent. And the basing issue – as it’s largely been portrayed – would push more on that presence, more on the militarization of US foreign policy, and more of a sense that the US is looking for some kind of security gains in Africa."
February 12
Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Reuters, "Japan PM: Rape Case 'Unforgiveable.'"
Top Japanese officials on Tuesday denounced the suspected rape of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine on the southern island of Okinawa, an episode with echoes of a 1995 case that jolted the U.S.-Japan alliance. The Marine, 38-year-old Tyrone Hadnott, based at Camp Courtney on the island, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of raping the schoolgirl when the two were in a car on Sunday. [...] "I don't see that there is the sort of dry kindling there for this to light," said Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow at Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I think the alliance is on much more solid ground."Read the article
February 8
Sam Brannen, a fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, had a commentary published in World Politics Review, “A Flicker of Hope for NATO’s Mission in Afghanistan?"
What looked like another bad day Feb. 7 for NATO's efforts in Afghanistan ended with a hopeful development. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates addressed his fellow defense ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania, with a request he had made many times over the past six months. He again asked allies to increase the number of troops in the country's south in preparation for the expected spring Taliban offensive and to shore up beleaguered forces from Canada, Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands.Read the commentary
Christine Wormuth, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the San Diego Union Tribune, "Poaching of Guard, Reserve Troops Seen as Detrimental."
Just before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Capt. Bobby Britton got a call he never expected. He would lead a platoon from the California National Guard's 270th Military Police Company into battle — a crowning achievement for a young officer. It would have been perfect, except for a couple of things: Britton, an infantry officer, had never been an MP and had never been part of the 270th. Christine Wormuth, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., has been studying Guard and reserve issues since 2004. She said fixing the cross-leveling mess is like solving the colored-block puzzle Rubik's Cube. “Every time you move one piece of it, something else is affected,” Wormuth said.Read the article
February 1
Kathleen Hicks, a senior fellow with the International Security Program was quoted by the Associated Press, "US Seeks Deal for Broad Goals in Iraq."
The United States, determined to prevent a resurgence of terror networks in Iraq, wants to preserve the right to hunt down top foreign fighters, as it negotiates a long-term security agreement with the Iraqis, according to a working draft described to The Associated Press. While the agreement will not tie the U.S. to specific troop levels, officials do not rule out including some broad goals for the U.S. military presence there, reflecting the gradual transfer of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces. [...] "The United States will want the maximum flexibility possible to have access to locations within Iraq without it being seen as an incursion on their sovereignty," said Kathleen Hicks, a senior fellow in the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Read the article
Christine Wormuth, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by the Dallas Morning News, "Report Urges Overhaul in National Guard, Reserves."
A congressionally mandated commission issued a blunt warning Thursday that U.S. military reserves are not ready to defend against a catastrophic attack on the nation because of badly insufficient equipment and training. The National Guard and Reserves, already under significant stress from continuing combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, face "appalling" shortages of troops and equipment and are less combat-ready than they were last year, when the commission reported that 88 percent of Guard and Reserve units were not ready for combat. "What the commission portrays on the health of the reserve components is accurate," said Christine Wormuth, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research organization in Washington. "The Guard and Reserves are the prime reason we've not had a national military draft, but the challenges facing the Guard and Reserves in recruiting, equipment and training have snowballed." Read the article
January 27
Jon Wolfsthal, a senior fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, was quoted by Agence France Press, "Bush Team Tries to Keep Lid On Frustration Over North Korea: Experts."
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Bush administration is trying to keep a lid on growing frustration over faltering talks to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons as criticism surfaces from hardliners in the wings, experts say. Jon Wolfsthal, a specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who previously worked on North Korean denuclearization with the US government, said the diplomatic approach is safe for now. "The strength and visibility of the rebuke from Secretary Rice was a clear sign that the dominant view is still one of engagement and working the six-party process," he told AFP. Read the article
A CSIS report, Keeping an Eye on an Unruly Neighbor, was quoted by Jane's Defense Weekly, "Clock Ticking for Kim's Korea."
Kim Jong-Il's regime could collapse within six months, bringing chaos to North Korea, observers and intelligence sources in Asia have told Jane's. A joint United States report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the US Institute for Peace has also revealed that China has "contingency plans" in the event of North Korea's implosion. The report, entitled 'Keeping an Eye on an Unruly Neighbor', said that China was prepared to "take the initiative" and had a military strategy for securing North Korea's "loose nukes" should Kim Jong-Il's rule fail. Read More
January 20
Bonnie Glaser, a CSIS Senior Associate, was quoted by Defense News, "Taiwan Candidate Would Seek Peace Pact With Beijing."
Taiwan presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou said that if elected, his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration would seek a “peace agreement” with China, along with cross-strait military confidence-building measures. Giving a keynote speech at a Jan. 16 conference on such measures here, Ma said his administration would engage the mainland in negotiations over three issues. [...] Since Chen won the presidency in 2000, China has been in discussions with the KMT and People’s First Party and patiently waited for a return to a KMT-controlled government. In a paper presented by Bonnie Glaser, senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Beijing has indicated a willingness to pursue confidence-building measures under the right conditions. “If the KMT returns to power in Taiwan, China has indicated that it is willing to proceed to implement cross-strait military [confidence-building measures] as part of a broader peace and stability accord,” she said. “Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed in communiqués reached in April 29, 2005, with then-KMT Chairman Lien Chan and on May 12, 2005, with People’s First Party Chairman James Soong to jointly promote the formal end of the state of hostility across the Taiwan Strait, to reach a future peace accord and to establish a mechanism of military mutual trust.”Read the article
January 20
Sam Brannen, a fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, appeared Canadian Television's Question Period, "Manley Panel to Offer Blunt Assesment of Mission."
The Manley panel's report on Afghanistan will likely include the recommendation that soldiers remain in the war-torn country until 2011, CTV News has learned. The Afghanistan mission is currently set to end in 2009. Samuel Brannen of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington praised Canada's contribution to the Afghan mission. "Canada's contributions have been among the greatest of the NATO allies, and this is not the time for Canada to leave Afghanistan," he told Question Period.Read the article
Sam Brannen, a fellow with the CSIS International Security Program, had a commentary published by World Politics Review, "More Allied, Not U.S., Forces Key to Success in Afghanistan."
Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani joined many commentators earlier this month in making the case for doubling U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan from the current 27,000. He and others argue that more troops would address escalating violence in the country and hedge against the increasing fragility of neighboring Pakistan's government. Such a large-scale U.S. troop increase, however, could be disastrous in the region, where maintaining a relatively light U.S. footprint and building a more significant allied one is the paradoxical key to defeating al-Qaida and the Taliban. Even the 3,000-man increase that U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is currently considering might have unforeseen strategic consequences if not accompanied by stepped up commitments from allies. This war remains more about perception than numbers. After losing last year's battle in Iraq, nothing would be better for al-Qaida's 2008 recruitment and fundraising than the appearance of growing U.S. unilateralism in the region where they remain strongest. Al-Qaida's operational structure is sheltered in Pakistan, and it will exploit any U.S. troop buildup in Afghanistan to further substantiate its claim that the United States seeks to be the new colonial master of the Muslim world. Al-Qaida will use this propaganda to fire up recruits — Salafist foreigners and local Pashtuns alike.Read the commentary
January 12
Ralph Cossa, president of Pacific Forum CSIS, Brad Glosserman, Executive Director of Pacific Forum CSIS, and Bonnie Glaser, a CSIS senior associate, were quoted by the Associated Press, "U.S. Lawmakers to Focus on China."
With the presidential campaign heating up, "2008 promises to be a trying year" for U.S.-China ties, wrote Brad Glosserman and Bonnie Glaser, analysts with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. "There will be a temptation to make China a foreign policy issue or a scapegoat for problems in economic and security policy." Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank, noted worry that congressional support for Taiwan's U.N. membership could encourage Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian to do something that China would see as a push for independence. Chen is trying to carve out a non-Chinese identity for the island. "Hopefully, they won't do too much," Cossa said of Congress, "because nothing makes things worse than congressional efforts to make them better." Read the article
