On March 25, 1971, according to the transcript of a telephone conversation with Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, I remarked: “When we are both out of government service, which will be a lot later for you than for me, I hope you will let me read the reports you send in on me.” This comment was […]
Two realities define the range of a meaningful debate on Iraq policy: The war cannot be ended by military means alone. But neither is it possible to “end” the war by ceding the battlefield. The radical jihadist challenge knows no frontiers; American decisions in the next few months will affect the confidence and morale of […]
The debate about missile defense, nearly 50 years old, has been reignited by the plan to deploy elements of the American missile defense in the Czech Republic and Poland. Familiar Cold War arguments have reemerged as Russia challenges the necessity of the deployment and asserts that it is really designed to overcome Russian strategic forces […]
The war in Iraq is approaching a kind of self-imposed climax. Public disenchantment is palpable. The expressions of concern by the widely admired Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) are a case in point. On the other hand, a democratic public eventually holds its leaders responsible for bringing about disasters, even if the decisions that caused the […]
The Iraq war has reawakened memories of Vietnam – the most significant political experience of an entire American generation. But this has not produced clarity about its lessons. Of course, history never repeats itself exactly. Vietnam was an episode in the Cold War, a combination of geopolitical and ideological conflict that did not challenge the […]
Ambivalence characterizes relations between Russia and the United States. President Vladimir Putin snipes at American conduct and policies, while his foreign minister reaffirms Russia's interest in a partnership with the United States. Washington seeks Russian assistance on nonproliferation while pursuing policies on Russia's borders that Moscow and many Russians consider highly provocative. In the meantime, […]
The announcement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is calling two international conferences of all Iraq's neighbors, including Syria and Iran, to discuss the country's future could mark a watershed. Whatever happens on the battlefields, Iraq will have to rejoin the global community in some manner. Otherwise, its internal […]
President Bush's bold decision to order a “surge” of some 20,000 American troops for Iraq has brought the debate over the war to a defining stage. There will not be an opportunity for another reassessment. The Baker-Hamilton commission powerfully described the impasse on the ground. It is the result of cumulative choices – some enumerated […]
I first met President Ford in the mid-1960s, when I was a professor at Harvard. I was conducting a defense-policy seminar. It was customary to invite people from Washington, and I invited President Ford, then a congressman, to come and talk about the appropriations process. We stayed in loose touch afterward. When I came to […]
Mr. Shultz, a distinguished fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, was secretary of state from 1982 to 1989. Mr. Perry was secretary of defense from 1994 to 1997. Mr. Kissinger, chairman of Kissinger Associates, was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977. Mr. Nunn is former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.