Defense Technology

A view of the street after a violent clashes between Libyan interim government forces and loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi in Sirte on October 18, 2011 (Esam Al-Fetori/Courtesy Reuters). I have a piece …

U.S. President Obama delivers speech in Hradcany Square in Prague on April 5, 2009 (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters). This is a guest post by CFR senior fellow Frank Klotz. President Obama’s April 20…

Did Pakistani government officials know Bin Laden was living in Abbottabad, and did they provide shelter to him and his support network?

At their meeting in Deauville May 25, Russian President Medvedev and U.S. President Obama remained stalled on missile defense cooperation and Russia’s bid to join the WTO, says CFR’s Stephen Sestanovich.

The Obama administration’s Nuclear Posture Review charts new positions on potential targets of U.S. atomic weapons, preventing proliferation, and developing new weapons, says CFR’s Michael Levi.

Following a post-Cold War erosion of senior level attention to nuclear weapons stewardship, the Air Force general charged with protecting the U.S. nuclear arsenal says his service is finally regaining its strategic focus.

The United States has pursued missile defense technologies for six decades, with mixed results. Changes under the Obama administration, including adjustments to planned defenses in Europe, could portend a new direction.

CFR Fellow Micah Zenko says U.S. air strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas are ineffective as a counterinsurgency tool. He recommends that Washington create oversight mechanisms for its covert operations in the tribal areas and develop a comprehensive national strategy toward Pakistan.

Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent defense analyst in Moscow, is pessimistic about a Russia-U.S. rapprochement in part because of enduring concerns about U.S. missile defense system plans.

U.S. missile defense in the twenty-first century is focused on emerging threats from North Korea and Iran, but critics say these systems are too costly and largely unproven.

Spector, a nuclear nonproliferation expert, discusses the merits of the U.S.-India nuclear agreement and its prospects for passage during the Bush administration.

The head of an independent commission investigating U.S. Army contracting practices tells CFR.org that inexperience, overwork, and neglect are creating opportunities for massive fraud.

Technology plays an increasing role in Homeland Security efforts, spawning a growing U.S.industry for everything from biometrics to cargo screening at ports.

While the American public focuses on bringing U.S. forces home from Iraq and Afghanistan, defense planners in Washington consider what to do with them when they get back.