Robert Farley

The New York Times features expert commentary this morning on scary scenarios regarding Pakistani nuclear weapons. Rolf Mowatt-Larrsen and Karen Von Hippel focus on the most dangerous scenarios, including the collapse of the Pakistani state and infiltration of the Pakistani nuclear services by the Taliban. Mowatt-Larrsen points out that the latter has already happened: Pakistan […]

A few details are emerging on the failed coup against Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. At a minimum, the coup plotters appear to have expected Russian assistance, but there’s no hard evidence of prior Russian involvement. This doesn’t, of course, mean that such prior involvement is impossible or unlikely, although opposition figures in Georgia are questioning […]

The state-secrets privilege has been receiving an enormous amount of attention lately, mainly in connection with the Obama administration’s invocation of the privilege in the Jeppesen case. This invocation, which recalled similar ones on the part of the Bush administration, incurred a substantial amount of criticism from civil libertarians and critics of Bush administration detention […]

Details are sketchy, but the Georgian government claims that it has foiled a coup, and blames the event on Russia: Georgia said Tuesday that it had foiled a Russian-backed plot against the government as tensions rose a day before the scheduled start of NATO military exercises. Georgian forces surrounded a tank unit that was alleged […]

This is less than ideal: US soldiers have been encouraged to spread the message of their Christian faith among Afghanistan’s predominantly Muslim population, video footage obtained by Al Jazeera appears to show. Military chaplains stationed in the US air base at Bagram were also filmed with bibles printed in the country’s main Pashto and Dari […]

Pakistan is estimated to have 60 or so nuclear weapons, deployed in “widely dispersed” sites across the country. The dispersal of nuclear weapons is key to Pakistan’s deterrence strategy and is in accord with general guidelines for deploying strategic weapons in order to maximize survival in case of a first strike. As Secretary of State […]

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced the end of British combat operations in Iraq: ”Today marks the closing chapter of the combat mission in Iraq,” Brown said. ”The flag of 20 Armoured Brigade will be lowered as British combat patrols in Basra come to an end and our armed forces prepare to draw down.” The […]

The People’s Liberation Army Navy carried out its 60th anniversary fleet review last week, with the United States Navy, the Russian Navy, and others in attendance. The review showcased growing Chinese naval power and served as a platform for speculation about China’s plans for building aircraft carriers. While the Chinese navy currently has numerous destroyers […]

The Sri Lankan government has forced the Tamil Tiger guerrilla organization onto a narrow spit, about 7 kilometers long. Unfortunately, the U.N. estimates that between 50,000 and 100,000 civilians are trapped in the area along with the Tigers. Continuing military operations by the Sri Lankan government and the Tigers are resulting, according to the UN, […]

I want to return for a moment to Adam’s point on the use of torture to ferret out a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. What fascinates me is the irrelevance of the line of inquiry; despite the fact that no evidence of a link was ever found, we still invaded Iraq. Jonathan Landay: A former […]