Opposition to the SALT process was firmly rooted in negotiations over the Interim Agreement and the ABM Treaty. Never have two arms control agreements been approved by such overwhelming margins (two votes against, in both cases) despite such deep reservations during the negotiating process. The memos written by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, Chairman of …
Deterrence and the Unitary, Rational Actor
by | 2012-11-18 | 5 Comments
The theory and practice of deterrence between the United States and the Soviet Union were predicated on the unitary, rational-actor model. Life-or-death decisions in deep crises would be made by leaders driven by rational calculations of national interest and executed by coherent chains of command. The unitary, rational-actor model, from which the constructs of escalation …
Rare Earths
by | 2012-11-16 | 5 Comments
I am working on it! I have a post up today at ForeignPolicy looking at some of the issues relating to Burma’s nuclear program. I promised to host a discussion here of the role of some of the equipment described here might play in in rare earths extraction. I am behind a bit — but I’ll …
Fact-Checking From Low-Earth Orbit
by | 2012-11-12 | 17 Comments
Fact-checking political rhetoric has lately become something of a cottage industry in America. Getting into that line of work seems to require a cutesy visual rating system involving wooden noses, flaming trousers, or some such. But with such a sweet target of opportunity, who can resist? After all, this may be the first time that …
