When David McKiernan was summarily fired from his post as commanding general in Afghanistan, I was shocked. Rajiv Chandrasekaran has a superb insider account in today's WaPo that fills in some of the gaps. read more

A frustrating tendency in media coverage of the defense budgeting process is the presumption that anything Congress adds to the Department of Defense’s budget request must be political pork (see, for example, "Pork-Laden Defense Bill Weigh...

Yesterday's meeting in Prague on the ‘Southern Corridor' – the pipelines that will bring gas and oil to Europe – produced a decent result, though still missing are agreements on a transit regime...

The United States is required to prosecute lawyers who authored memos approving harsh interrogation techniques in possible violation of international law, the UN's top anti-torture official...

The United States is making a shocking shake-up in the leadership of the Afghanistan mission, replacing General David McKiernan with Lt. General Stanley McChrystal, according to various reports. McKiernan has been in his post less than a year.

Citing reports that a Chicago man has been arrested for helping to plan the Mumbia terror attacks, Bernard Finel snarks, "I guess we need a surge in Chicago, too?" read more

I am flying aboard a Grumman C2-1 Greyhound, a powerful twin-engine turboprop nicknamed “COD” for Carrier Onboard Delivery. It's the U.S. Navy's aerial workhorse — its Jeep so to speak — ferrying passengers, cargo, engines, spare parts and whatever...

Boyko Nitzov, director of programs at the Council's Patriciu Eurasia Center, was interviewed by Leyla Tagiyeva of Azerbaijan's News.Az on energy security in Europe. read more

Amid the flurry of discussion caused by “climate-gate” and debates about CO2 emission caps, the relationship between climate change and security is likely to be overlooked in Copenhagen. read more

“Will Turkey join the European Union?  That’s up to the Europeans.  All we see is that when we go to Europe they treat us like we are nothing – whereas in the Middle East they look up to us.”  Such were the words of a Turkish diplomat I spoke to in...