Articles

Who is the Imam Consulted by the Ft. Hood Assassin?
A Look at the Terrorist Ties of Anwar al-Aulaqi and the Radicalization Process
by Susan Schmidt

Published on November 9th, 2009
Anwar al-Aulaqi, the former imam of mosques in Falls Church and San Diego who was a spiritual advisor to two of the 9/11 hijackers is suspected of involvement in terrorist plots directed at the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials. Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who was imam at Virginia’s Dar al Hijrah on 9/11, moved to Yemen a few months after the attacks. Audiotapes and transcripts of his lectures on waging jihad against the West have been discovered in the password protected computer files of numerous suspects arrested in bombing plots in Europe and North America. He pronounced suspected Fort Hood slayer Nidal Hasan "a hero" and "a man of conscience" in an internet blog posting Monday.

China Puts Up a Fighter
Wall Street Journal
by Richard Fisher, Jr.

Published on September 1st, 2009
With few exceptions, Beijing rarely says much of substance about its ongoing military build-up or its strategic thinking. But the overriding message from the recent Moscow Airshow and other airshows, plus occasional interviews with Chinese and Russian engineers, is that Beijing is not conceding next-generation air superiority to anyone, least of all the United States.

Why the 'Merchant of Death' Might Not Stand Trial
Foreign Policy
by Douglas Farah

Published on August 11th, 2009
A Thai court refused to extradite Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer, to the United States. Something is rotten in Bangkok.

Honduras Breaks a Paradigm in Latin America
by Margarita M. Montes

Published on July 11th, 2009
The removal of President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales from power by the Honduran army on Sunday, June 28, has put an end to a paradigm in Latin American contemporary political history. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, an army removes a legally and democratically elected President to restore the rule of law, not to break the rule of law, as it used to be in the past.

Why the F-22 Matters for Japan
Sankei Shimbun
by Richard Fisher, Jr.

Published on July 4th, 2009
Two critical political "dogfights" are underway in Washington that could help determine the speed with which Japan may have to make a critical decision on whether to acquire a decisive means of deterrent, quite possibly a nuclear deterrent. The first dogfight is between the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration over whether to continue production of the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor 5th generation super-fighter.  A second and related dogfight is whether a group of Congressmen led by Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii can persuade Congress to change a law preventing foreign sales of the F-22, so that Japan could then purchase an export version of this fighter. 

Honduras and the Bolivarian Revolution
by Douglas Farah

Published on July 3rd, 2009
Once again an outside power is meddling in the internal affairs of a small, poor Central American country and threatening military action if its preferred candidate is not restored to office. The irony is that it is not Uncle Sam interfering in Honduras-which has happened often enough-but Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, who has made a career of railing against foreign intervention. Chávez's belligerent threats of military action to restore his ally, ousted president Manuel Zelaya, to power are supported by Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, Bolivia's Evo Morales and the Castro brothers in Cuba.

What Really Happened in Honduras?
by Octavio Sánchez

Published on July 1st, 2009
Under our Constitution, what happened in Honduras this past Sunday?Soldiers arrested and sent out of the country a Honduran citizen who, the daybefore, through his own actions had stripped himself of the presidency ofHonduras.

South China Sea Competition: China Contemplates More Mischief
by Richard Fisher, Jr.

Published on June 28th, 2009
On June 11, 2009 a Chinese Navy submarine reportedly collided with the towed sonar array of the U.S. Navy destroyer U.S.S. John S. McCain, about 144 miles from Subic Bay in the Philippines. Previously on March 8, 2009 Chinese Maritime Militia ships harassed the U.S.S. Impeccable on a surveillance mission about 75 miles from Hainan Island. These incidents illustrate a growing tension between China, the United States and other Asian nations over China’s increasing militarization of the South China Sea.

Depth Perception
Defense Technology International
by Richard Fisher, Jr.

Published on June 1st, 2009
China is expanding its force-projection capabilities on land, sea and in the air with a range of weapons. The primary goal is to protect economic interests through control of the western Pacific. But China also seeks to counter U.S. naval power in the region and make alliances with strategically placed countries like Iran and Pakistan.

Red alert - China modernises its nuclear missile force
Jane's Intelligence Review
by Richard Fisher, Jr.

Published on May 21st, 2009
Beijing is now deploying or developing up to five intercontinental nuclear-armed ballistic missiles in what amounts to China's most ambitious increase in intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability since the late 1980s. Concurrent with this modernisation process of its land-based missiles, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will also soon deploy its new submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), to offer greater flexibility and survivability to China's nuclear forces. This effort is expected to result in a relatively modest increase in missile numbers, but armed with far more capable, if not a larger number of warheads. Contrary to efforts by the United States and Russia to engage in nuclear reduction negotiations, as seen by a 7 May meeting between the two countries, China will therefore continue to expand its nuclear arsenal.