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341. The Proliferation Security Initiative in Perspective

Author:
Andrew Prosser
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Participant countries of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a U.S.-led effort to stem the illicit trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and delivery systems, met on the first anniversary of the initiative, from May 31 to June 1 in Krakow, Poland. Russia announced on the first day of the meeting its decision to participate in the PSI, a move that U.S. officials had supported as an important step in augmenting the effectiveness of the initiative. However, Russia's participation will only occur, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, as long as PSI activities do not violate national or international law. Russian officials have similarly expressed concerns that the PSI's land, sea, and air-based WMD interdiction activities could endanger international commerce, and give unwarranted powers to the U.S. Navy to act as a global police force.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia and United States

342. Operation Iraqi Freedom: Theater Air and Missile Defense History

Author:
Howard B. Bromberg
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Although we did not fully realize it at the time, our planning for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and our role in the Global War on Terrorism actually started within minutes after the attack on the World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001, the command began assuming roles in three major operations which culminated over nineteen months later with the Coalition victory in removing the Regime of Saddam Hussein and freeing the Iraqi people and the region from his threats.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

343. A Unified Security Budget for the United States

Author:
Miriam Pemberton and Marcus Corbin
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Since September 11, 2001, the question of how to provide for our security has loomed large over our national life. Many of the Bush administration's answers to this question have come under intense challenge—from the doctrine of preventive war to the development of new designs for “usable” nuclear weapons to the choice of war with Iraq as the centerpiece of its war on terrorism. But until recently one aspect of the administration's strategy has gone virtually unchallenged, namely its military budgets and the spending priorities contained within them. From 2000 to 2004, these budgets have increased by more than 50%. Congress has approved each of these budgets, and virtually the entire menu of programs specified in them, with hardly a whisper of debate.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States

344. The Defense Monitor, The Wrong Deterrence: The Threat of Loose Nukes is One of Our Own Making

Author:
Colin Robinson, Bruce.G Blair, Nikolai Zlobin, and Alan F. Kay
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Nuclear terrorism, thankfully, is still only a specter, not a reality. But the recent wave of bloodshed in Russia underscores the urgency of the need to prevent terrorists capable of indiscriminate slaughter from acquiring nuclear bombs.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Russia and United States

345. The Defense Monitor, The Real Problem with Intelligence

Author:
Mark Burgess, Lawrence Korb, Winslow T. Wheeler, and Philip E. Coyle
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
The reports of the 9/11 Commission and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence miss the real problem facing the intelligence community. The real problem is not organization or culture, but the Team B concept which began in 1976 and the real villains are those hardliners who refuse to accept the unbiased and balanced judgments of intelligence professionals about the threats facing the country.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States

346. The Defense Monitor, Ten Mistakes History will Record About War in Ira

Author:
Rachel Stohl, Anthony Zinni, Steven C. Welsh, Michael Donovan, and Colin Robinson
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
[T]he first mistake that will be recorded in history [is] the belief that containment as a policy doesn't work. It certainly worked against the Soviet Union, has worked with North Korea and others. It's not a pleasant thing to have to administer, it requires troops full-time, there are moments when there ... are periods of violence, but containment is a lot cheaper than the alternative, as we're finding out now.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States and North Korea

347. The Defense Monitor, Keeping Presidents in the Nuclear Dark: The SIOP Option that Wasn't

Author:
Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Theresa Hitchens, and Bruce.G Blair
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
ONE OF THE MOST RAREFIED experiences of a newly installed president is his receiving of the “nuclear football” conferring the right to order the use of nuclear weapons in defense of the American national interest. Few, if any, presidents have had a firm grip on the “football” however, as all U.S. presidents receive a misleading briefing on their nuclear weapons rights and responsibilities, and options.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States and America

348. The Defense Monitor, Rogue States: Nuclear Red-Herrings

Author:
Eric Hagt, Victoria Samson, Thomas R. Pickering, Lawrence J. Korb, Bruce.G Blair, and Yali Chen
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
For all the talk about rogue states acquiring nuclear weapons to threaten the United States, and all the heated debate about the United States developing mini-nukes and bunker busters to keep the rogues at bay, the U.S. nuclear weapons establishment does not pay much attention to the “axis of evil.” The real obsession of the U.S. nuclear enterprise at all levels — from Strategic Command in Omaha to the bomb custodians and designers in New Mexico — is keeping U.S. nuclear forces prepared to fight a large-scale nuclear war at a moment's notice with … Russia.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Mexico

349. The Financial Front in the Global War on Terrorism

Author:
Patrick D. Buckley and Michael J. Meese
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has aggressively executed the Global War on Terrorism on many different fronts. The approval of Executive Order 13224 on September 24, 2001, marked a bold initial step toward targeting terrorists' financial networks. The success of terrorist organizations is dependent upon these financial networks because though terrorist attacks are not necessarily expensive, the support of international terrorist networks, training camps, command and control, and infrastructure requires either a large reserve of available finances or the ability to raise significant funding. Estimates of al-Qaeda's current funding vary widely, but it is believed that prior to the Taliban's removal from power, al-Qaeda's annual expenses were at least $36 million on top of an initial fixed cost of approximately $50 million for equipment and infrastructure.
Topic:
Defense Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

350. CIAO Iraq Special Section: The Year in Review

Author:
Sean Costigan, Adam Mausner, and Siheun Song
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia International Affairs Online
Abstract:
One year into the occupation of Iraq the United States and its Coalition partners remain in discussions over the country's fate. The deliberations have generally focused on the involvement of the United Nations, the schedule for handing over sovereignty to a democratic Iraqi government, and ultimately what the Iraqi government should resemble. The terms of the debate have regularly been sidelined by unforeseen events, including the recent rebellion in Fallujah, Shiite opposition in the south, grandstanding by local politicians, demagoguery, defection of Iraqi police and security forces and the wavering of Coalition partners, to name but a few. While progress is clearly being made in some areas, there are numerous signs that Iraq may not be ready for the June 30 transition of power. The top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, has suggested that by June 30 Iraqi security forces simply will not be up to the task of defending against insurgents. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is more optimistic and remains committed to the June 30 deadline.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Middle East, Arabia, and United Nations