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Regional Security
Something in the Air: ‘Isolationism,’ Defense Spending, and the US Public Mood
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Is “neo-isolationism” captivating the American public? Or is interventionism back? Will the public continue to support reductions in defense spending?
The report offers a comprehensive and critical analysis of current and historical US public opinion polls on global engagement, military intervention, and defense spending. Significant fluctuation in public sentiments is evident. So is an enduring divide between elite opinion and the general public. The report assesses these in light of changes in US policy, strategic conditions, and the economy. It also examines the effect of partisan political dynamics on public debate and opinion. Seven tables and graphs.
The US “Asia Pivot” and “Air-Sea Battle” Concept: Toward Conflict with China?
Will China come to pose a peer military threat to the United States? The Obama administration’s 2012 Strategic Defense Review and the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) turn on this eventuality. Both the so-called “Asia pivot” and the evolving Air-Sea Battle (ASB) operational concept are meant to preclude it. But they may serve to precipitate it, instead.
US Policy on Syria: War or Diplomacy?
Kerry for Keeping Option to Use Ground Forces ‘In the Event Syria Imploded’
Military Intervention in Syria? — American People Show Greater Wisdom Than Washington
Three Leadership Steps for Peace in Korea
Yes, We Really Must Talk With Iran
Quickly, Carefully, and Generously: The Necessary Steps for a Responsible Withdrawal from Iraq
Symposium: The Role of Force & the Armed Forces in US Foreign Policy — What have we learned?
- Andrew Bacevich, “The Origins and Demise of the Bush Doctrine of Preventive War”
- Carl Conetta, “Out from the House of War: A Litmus for New Leadership in Security Policy” (printable .pdf)
- David Gold, “How Much Defense Can We Afford? (printable .pdf), as republished in Challenge (Sept/Oct 2008)
A Note on the State of Israel
Is Worry about Pakistani Nukes Serving to Keep the U.S. in Iraq?
(HTML version) by Charles Knight, PDA commentary, July 2007.
Congressional withdrawal plans, permanent bases in Iraq, increase in ground troops
US aid to Somalia, counterterrorism in Horn of Africa, results and motivations of terrorism
US aid to Afghanistan, Taliban in government, Afghan casualties, permanent bases in the Mideast
Resolving Iraq: Progress depends on a short timeline for US troop withdrawal
(printable PDF version) by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Memo #40, 18 January 2007. The memo argues that the large-scale US military presence in Iraq makes sustainable progress toward peace and stability there impossible. It advances an alternative approach to stabilizing Iraq that hinges on a short timeline for US troop withdrawal and a new international effort including Iraq’s neighbors.
A Troop Surge Can’t Win a Victory from a Bad Decision for War
(HTML version) by Carl Conetta, PDA Commentary in Common Dreams, 10 January 2007.
The Near Enemy and the Far: The Long War, China, and the 2006 US Quadrennial Defense Review
by Carl Conetta, 01 November 2006. ➪ HTML ➪ PDF. An edited version of this analysis appeared in the July 2006 issue of the World Policy Journal with the title Dissuading China and Fighting the ‘Long War’ (PDF).
The 2006 US Quadrennial Defense Review advanced two new strategic vectors for the US armed forces – one targeted a putative “global Islamic insurgency,” the other put America on a collision course with China.
War & Consequences: Global Terrorism has Increased Since 9/11 Attacks
(HTML version) (printable PDF version) by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Memo #38, 25 September 2006. The memo analyzes the change in the incidence of terrorism since 11 September 2001, finding a distinct increase. It also summarizes the findings of various studies on the relationship between the Iraq war and terrorism which show that in the words of one, the Iraq war “has reinforced the determination of terrorists who were already committed to attacking the West and motivated others who were not.”
Pyrrhus on the Potomac: How America’s post-9/11 wars have undermined US national security
Dissuading China and Fighting the ‘Long War’
by Carl Conetta, World Policy Journal, 01 July 2006. ➪ PDF
The 2006 US Defense Review advanced two new strategic vectors for the US armed forces – one targets a putative “global Islamic insurgency”; the other puts America on a collision course with China.
(A longer version of this article was published in November 2006 under the title The Near Enemy and the Far: The Long War, China, and the 2006 US Quadrennial Defense Review.)
Die Europäische Union: Stolpersteine auf dem Weg zur Integration (The European Union: Stumbling Blocks on the Road to Integration)
Lambert Guard Unit Appears Headed to Israel
More troops for Iraq? Time to just say “No”
(printable PDF version) (HTML version) by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Memo #39, 09 January 2006. There is no reason to believe that a marginal increase in the US troop presence in Iraq will turn the tide there. The memo reviews relevant data on troop strength, insurgent activity, and Iraqi public opinion. It traces America’s troubles in Iraq to the nature of the mission, which it concludes is founded on strategic error.
400 Days and Out: A Strategy for Solving the Iraq Impasse
Vicious Circle: The Dynamics of Occupation and Resistance in Iraq, Part One. Patterns of Popular Discontent
Should We Stay or Should We Go? The US Debate on Exiting Iraq
(HTML version) by Carl Conetta. PDA Briefing Memo #33, 07 March 2005.
What do Iraqis want? Iraqi attitudes on the occupation, US withdrawal, Iraqi governments, and quality of life