A joint post by Catherine Dill, Jeffrey Lewis, Melissa Hanham and David Schmerler Two years ago, on 17 July 2014, someone shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight Number 17 (MH17) over an area of Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists, killing all 298 persons aboard. The Dutch Safety Board has now concluded that the aircraft was shot …
Kashmir on the Boil
by | 2016-07-11 | 13 Comments
Kashmir is on the boil again. Unrest has been on the rise for months now. The involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence can be safely assumed, but less than in previous flare-ups, if clashes along the Line of Control dividing Kashmir are used as an indicator. In any event, the ability of outsiders to make trouble …
Alliances and No First Use
by | 2016-07-05 | 25 Comments
The Bill Clinton Administration made a questionable call to expand NATO after the Cold War ended. The George W. Bush Administration made matters far worse by expanding NATO up to Russia’s border in the Baltics and pushing club membership further east, lobbying to include even Ukraine and Georgia. The action/reaction syndrome then kicked in – …
Club Membership
by | 2016-06-26 | 3 Comments
India tried hard to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group with strong backing from the Obama Administration. It was a bridge too far. There was no consensus at the NSG meeting in Seoul to accept India’s candidacy, which was muddied by China’s advancement of Pakistan’s cause. No country besides China (with the possible exception of Turkey) …
