“Cold War” on The Daily Caller

Significant discussions are currently taking place within the military as the Department of Defense attempts to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent while moving from 2,200 nuclear warheads in 2008 to 1,550 under the recently ratified New Start Treaty. However, the discussion does not end there. Many are also contemplating how to maintain deterrence while moving to zero nuclear weapons. (more)

As we celebrate the 100th birthday of President Ronald Reagan, those who knew and admired him remember his consistent optimism. Reagan was no Pollyanna, but he saw that the best days of our country lay ahead of us. (more)

We’re about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. As much as I would like to praise that great and good man, I have to wonder what he would do about Egypt. (more)

This February 6th marks the birth centennial of Ronald Reagan, a president so universally admired that much of the media is doing tributes, from front-page profiles to full-blown commemorative issues. Many of these, even from mainstream/liberal sources, will unhesitatingly acknowledge Reagan’s bold, successful effort to undermine what was indeed an “Evil Empire.” (more)

When I despair at the shallow ranting on TV (I don’t have one, but it is always on at my dad’s), I am reassured by the quality of thinking going on in many of our think tanks here in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. An outstanding example was the all-morning discussion of President Dwight D Eisenhower’s farewell address Thursday at the CATO Institute. Ike’s granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower, introduced the two panels of experts on what Ike called the “military-industrial complex.” A lecture by any one of them would have been worth the drive into town. But here were all ten of them together: Andrew Bacevich, Charles Dunlap Jr., Lawrence Korb, Lawrence Wilkerson, Chris Preble (the organizer), Eugene Gholz, John C. Hulsman, Richard Betts and Ted Galen Carpenter. What a group. You can see the entire program here. (more)

The new arms control treaty with Russia, now being considered by the Senate, follows in the storied tradition of Ronald Reagan, or so say people who worked for him. Except that Mr. Reagan would never have supported it, at least according to other people who served him. (more)

South Korea says it will retaliate with missile strikes against the North if faced with “further provocations”, after an exchange of fire in which two South Korean marines were killed. (more)

Advocates of Big Government are forever creative in concocting new justifications for old programs. Supporters of more military spending are no different. One of the most unique arguments is that a bigger Pentagon budget is necessary to simultaneously protect and suppress the Europeans. (more)

Paul Kengor is the author of the new book, “DUPES: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.” The political science professor and executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College has previously authored such books as “God and Ronald Reagan” and “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.” (more)

There were many odd things about my recent Havana stopover (apart from the dolphin show, which I’ll get to shortly), but one of the most unusual was Fidel Castro’s level of self-reflection. I only have limited experience with Communist autocrats (I have more experience with non-Communist autocrats) but it seemed truly striking that Castro was willing to admit that he misplayed his hand at a crucial moment in the Cuban Missile Crisis (you can read about what he said toward the end of my previous post – but he said, in so many words, that he regrets asking Khruschev to nuke the U.S.). (more)

Venerable historian Garry Wills recently posted a piece revealing his role at an off-the-record meeting President Obama convened with nine professional historians over a year ago.  Though a frequent critic of President Obama’s policies, I reacted to Wills’ piece with a kind of tingling cognitive dissonance: sympathy for the President and, frankly, disdain for the profession I admire enormously. (more)

The Obama administration’s 20-year plan for the U.S. nuclear arsenal would reduce the number of deployed and stored warheads from 5,000 to a range of 3,000 to 3,500 and significantly increase spending on the complex that maintains them, according to newly disclosed documents. (more)

Throughout NATO’s existence, U.S. leaders have complained about the tendency of the alliance’s European members to skimp on defense spending and take advantage of America’s security shield to free ride.  The free-rider problem, bad even during the Cold War, became worse when that struggle ended. (more)

Ten people pleaded guilty Thursday to working in the U.S. as Russian secret agents, setting up what is expected to be the largest Russia-U.S. spy swap since the Cold War. (more)

Our lives continue to be defined by the Cold War, even as the phrase itself has devolved into an artifact of language. (more)

Cash-strapped North Korea has demanded the United States pay almost $65 trillion in compensation for six decades of hostility. (more)

American alliances supposedly are founded on shared values, and above all, a respect for democracy.  But the recent resignation of the Japanese Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, raises questions of how democracy is seen in Washington. (more)

Forty-three Memorial Days ago—four wars ago now—I was a second lieutenant artillery observer with the 9th Infantry Division’s Mobile Riverine Force in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam. The day I set out for that incredible combat zone five months earlier, I began a journey to an unknown destination, a place inside myself I had not yet discovered. (more)

Issuing a National Security Strategy (NSS) every four years has become a White House tradition since being mandated by Congress. The multilateral tone of President Obama’s first NSS is an updated version of the spirit of previous documents.  Though rhetorically different from the Bush administration, it is not a radical departure.  In substance, continuity prevails.  The pursuit and promotion of U.S. national interests around the world will not be dictated by a piece of paper.  Necessity and circumstances, and not intention, will regularly determine strategy.  Policy assumes a more reactive and less pro-active role. (more)

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