South Asia

3 Items

Analysis & Opinions - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Nuclear Security's Top Priority

| June 12, 2012

In the past two decades, at least two terrorist groups have made serious attempts at obtaining nuclear weapons or the nuclear material needed to make them. They won't be the last. Foiling terrorists willing to inflict unlimited damage requires the international community to prioritize the nuclear stocks that pose the greatest risks and take immediate steps to eliminate or secure them.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, arrives for a hearing on Iraq,  Feb. 3, 2011, in Washington. Earlier, he said the U.S. has to do "a better job of encouraging democracy" in the Middle East.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

Wishful Thinking

| April 29, 2011

"A central tenet of both neo-conservatism and liberal internationalism/interventionism is the idea that democracy is both the ideal form of government but also one that is relatively easy to export to other societies. Never mind that democratization tends to shift the distribution of power within different societies, thereby provoking potentially violent struggles for power between different ethnic or social groups within society. Pay no attention to the fact that it took several centuries for stable democracies to emerge in the Western world, and that process was frequently bloody and difficult."