Moscow is once again expressing displeasure with US and NATO missile defense plans.Russia says it is prepared to use "destructive force pre-emptively" if the US goes ahead with controversial plans for a missile defence system based in Central Europe. The warning came after the Russian defence minister said talks on missile defence were nearing a dead end. Moscow fears that missile interceptors would be a threat to Russia's security.But the US...
Displaying Results for "BMD"
BMD and NATO not quite BFD, but a step in the right direction
NATO agrees to missile-defense mission. Somewhat paradoxically, this is true even if you're lukewarm on ballistic missile defenses (BMD) in general, or the Phased Adaptive Approach in particular. Why? The more NATO presents a united front, the more likely the Russians are to cooperate on BMD and BMD-related issues, which not only reduces an irritant in relations but mitigates against some of the potentially destabilizing implications of BMD...
Russia and BMD: The BFD
Even the most causal observers of US-Russian relations must have realized by now that the Kremlin is apoplectic over the prospect of US ballistic missile defenses (BMD) in Eastern Europe. How has the Kremlin responded to news of the US-Czech radar deal? They're not happy. Reuters: Russia warned after the signing on Tuesday it would react with unspecified military-technical means if the shield is deployed."The Czech side... voiced concerns over...
Shut it Down? The International Response to the Coronavirus
If you've been following the coronavirus outbreak, you've probably heard about the Princess Cruises ship, quarantined in Japan with thousands of passengers on board. It sounds like the veritable cruise ship from hell. Of the 1219 passengers screened for the virus, some 355 passengers tested positive for COVID-19, including some 44 Americans. The Americans were finally being evacuated today after having been quarantined on the ship since...
Changing the Atmosphere in Political Science: Ten Key Political Questions about Climate Change
We're re-upping this guest post as part of our series on changing the field. #IRChange. This is the second post (the first is here). This is a guest post from several authors including: Jessica F. Green, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Toronto (@greenprofgreen)David Konisky, Professor, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University (@DavidKonisky)Megan Mullin, Associate Professor, Nicholas School of the...
Are Generic Drugs Safe? Big Claims in a New Book
I was in the car when the Dallas radio station KERA came on with an interview with the journalist Katherine Eban, author of the new book Bottle of Lies, in which she claims that the generic pharmaceutical industry faces widespread problems of quality. A high percentage of generic drugs come from India and most of the chemical ingredients or raw materials come from China. Generic drugs constitute according to Eban about 90% of the...
Charli’s Village: A Call to Arms
This is a tough post to write. In October, Charli was hospitalized for severe abdominal pain. Surgery revealed a large mass, and Charli was diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma—a systemic cancer of the immune system. This is a rare cancer, but fortunately it is highly treatable (doctors say the cancer is responding well) and Charli has access to some of the best doctors in the world in Boston. But, the treatment is brutal: an intensive, six month...
Foreign Policy in the Second GOP Presidential Candidate Debate
Last night was the second debate between the GOP presidential candidates. So, as I did with the first one, let's take a look back at the foreign policy aspects, shall we? I'll be working off of the debate transcript published by the Washington Post. And, like last time, I won't be considering immigration as a foreign policy issue because a) the candidates are dealing with it as a domestic policy issue and b) I don't know much about the politics...
Hypotheses Tested
The Duck has a symposium which engages the European Journal of International Relation's special issue on "The End of IR Theory." One of the pieces is the final version of the draft that John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt circulated last winter. If y'all remember, I had a few words to say about the paper. In short, I was not a fan. Now that the final version is out and they have a post at the Duck, I could take more swings at it, but I don't...
What if US/Japan Try to Shoot Down a North Korean Missile & They Miss?
If the Japanese miss but take out MTV & Jersey Shore instead, that would still be ok I think my toaster has more computing power than that guidance system… I thought the North Koreans would launch a test missile on the ‘Day of the Sun’ – that would be Kim Il Sung’s birthday for you imperialist running-dogs yet lacking in proper ideological orientation. But I still think it’s likely. So my confidence was raised when I re-watched Spies...
Washington “Cancels” Fourth Stage of European Phased Adaptive Approach
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel de facto announced on Friday that the US will scrap deployment of ground-based ballistic-missile interceptors in Poland and Romania. At a Pentagon press conference today, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that the planned deployment of the high-speed SM-3 Block IIB interceptor to Poland (and the corresponding 4th phase of European Phased Adaptive Approach) has been cancelled. The transcript of Hagel’s...
Wednesday Night Linkage
Spent the morning recording a podcast. Except that we just chatted and never got around to the actual interview. Then it was off to job talks and child chauffeuring.... Tom Z. Collina doesn't like the idea of a BMD system for the US east coast. Dan Drezner says that China is involved in a security dilemma with ASEAN. I'm not so sure: it looks to me like Beijing is being expansionist and that's provoking its neighbors. Noorjahan Akbar reports...