Tuesday, February 21, 2012

What The US Must Do Now About the ATT

U.S. Must Stand Its Ground on U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3513, February 21, 2012. "The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was held last week. The purpose of this PrepCom was to adopt rules of procedure for the U.N. Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which will be held in New York July 2–27. This conference is intended to complete the negotiation of the ATT and thus open the treaty for signature and ratification. The outcome of the PrepCom makes it even more vital for the U.S. to establish its red lines and stand its ground before and during the July conference."

Monday, February 13, 2012

Consensus and Transparency Dominate Final ATT PrepCom

U.S. Must Address Critical Questions at Final Preparatory Committee on U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3500, February 13, 2012. "The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be held on February 13-17. The purpose of this PrepCom is to determine the rules of procedure for the U.N. Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which will be held in New York from July 2-27. This Conference is intended to complete the negotiation of the ATT, and thus open the treaty for signature and ratification. At the final PrepCom, the U.S. must address critical questions about the rules of procedure that will shape the outcome of the July conference."

Friday, February 10, 2012

Obama's Dirty Trick on UK Defense Strategy

Obama Retreats from Old Military Alliances, Yorkshire Post, February 10, 2012. "For the first time since the mid-1950s, Britain has a defense strategy that fails to mesh with America’s: it is best able to wage the kind of wars that the U.S. says it no longer cares to fight. The sad, sudden American retreat has badly dented the basis of Britain’s defense planning, and served a much wider notice that the U.S. would prefer to spend more on welfare and less on warfare. Unfortunately, its enemies are unlikely to share those priorities."

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Syria Shows Obama Doctrine (In)action

Syria: A Perfect Illustration of the Obama Doctrine’s Failure, Centre for Policy Studies, February 9, 2012. "Obama has little to gain by putting foreign policy on the front pages and, it would appear, little desire to put them front and center either. He needs only to do just enough -- in the form of speeches, symbolic actions, gestures to the left, and not very covert military operations -- to neutralize the charge that he’s not interested in American leadership. Syria testifies to the fact that the dreams of his early administration have comprehensively failed, and that he’s now relying on ad hoc approaches. True, all foreign policy is to an extent improvisation, but great improvisers work off the melody. Right now, the Obama Doctrine is a discordant mess."