Harlan Ullman, Author at Centrul de analiza si studii de securitate

Needed: Realistic foreign policy priorities for Barack

In foreign policy as well in virtually every human endeavor, how do you know how well or badly you are doing. Most smart people have annual physicals to check on their health. Scorecards for hedge fund managers and CEO’s are measured in return on investment or share value. And in sports, overtime is the ultimate measure of winning or losing. Unfortunately, foreign policy has no universal or even partial scorecard except to the extent that White Houses, Congresses, critics and the media pass judgments on what appears to be working and what does not. The starting point for making these assessments regarding foreign policy rests in analyzing the priorities [...]

By Harlan Ullman|2017-11-14T21:28:00+02:003 decembrie 2014|America, Blog, Democratie & Drepturile Omului, Harlan Ullman, Pace & Securitate, Regiuni, Subiecte|0 Comentarii

Mai mult

The Islamic State: existential or exaggerated danger?
The Islamic State: existential or exaggerated danger?

Blog, Harlan Ullman, Orientul Mijlociu, Pace & Securitate, Regiuni, Subiecte, Terorism

The Islamic State: existential or exaggerated danger?

How dangerous is the Islamic State (IS)? Given the barbarism, ruthlessness and brutality of the IS in establishing a caliphate in part by absorbing or coercing acceptance by Sunnis, Baathists and former Saddam loyalists disenfranchised or persecuted by the Shia government in Baghdad, will that amalgam hold? Or will IS’s inhuman behavior ultimately provoke a rebellion by local Sunni tribes? Alternatively, is the IS phenomenon and the surprising suddenness of its seizure of space in Iraq and Syria a harbinger of an even greater threat to the region and beyond? Reports of IS now extending its poisonous tentacles into Pakistan may or may not prove accurate. However, the possibility is [...]

By Harlan Ullman|2017-11-14T21:28:00+02:003 decembrie 2014|Blog, Harlan Ullman, Orientul Mijlociu, Pace & Securitate, Regiuni, Subiecte, Terorism|0 Comentarii

Mai mult

A plea for a strong, smart, affordable national defense
A plea for a strong, smart, affordable national defense

General

A plea for a strong, smart, affordable national defense

U.S. Marines, from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, patrol in the town of Garmser in Helmand... Here is a stunning paradox: The United States has the most competent and capable military in the world. But that military faces the very real likelihood of collapsing into a hollow, far less capable force. The reasons are hidden in plain sight. No. 1 is the budget. The fiscal 2015 defense budget requested by the White House totals about $700 billion. However, that level is economically unsustainable for the long term, even as the United States faces a new enemy in the Islamic State. Moreover, sequestration will cut $50 billion a year from defense [...]

By Harlan Ullman|2017-11-14T21:28:00+02:0025 noiembrie 2014|General|0 Comentarii

Mai mult

11/11/11
11/11/11

Blog, Harlan Ullman, Pace & Securitate, Subiecte

11/11/11

11/11/11 represents the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when an armistice was declared on the Western Front ending World War I. President Woodrow Wilson subsequently declared November 11th Armistice Day. In 1954, the law renamed Armistice as Veteran’s Day, not to be confused with Memorial Day that celebrates those American who gave their lives in battle. In the UK, 11/11/11 is known as Remembrance Day with the wearing of red paper poppies commemorating the end of a war in which more than fifty million perished. And the next year, 1919, perhaps another fifty million died in the Spanish Flu epidemic. But the likelihood [...]

By Harlan Ullman|2017-11-14T21:28:00+02:0025 noiembrie 2014|Blog, Harlan Ullman, Pace & Securitate, Subiecte|0 Comentarii

Mai mult

Defense at risk–but not why you think
Defense at risk–but not why you think

America, Blog, Harlan Ullman, Regiuni

Defense at risk–but not why you think

London: To hear the anguished cries of critics of the Obama administration’s defense plans, one would think the nation is disarming. We are told that at a projected end strength of 450,000 active duty Army personnel, ground forces will be headed to pre-World War II levels. The Navy, with some 290 ships or less, will be down to the size of the pre-World War I fleet. Is the sky falling? Unfortunately, the first complaint is misleading. And the second dismisses the fighting power of today’s Navy. Worse, the real dangers to the future size and capability of the U.S. military are entirely ignored. Regarding the size of ground forces, America [...]