Some realism on Iran;
New START inches forward

Iron Dome ready in November; Saudi legal reform takes a step forward; Iran's hand in Iraq highlighted by U.S. general; France "at war" with AQIM; Turkey gives boost to Azeri enclave

"New Start" faces hostility on the Hill...; ...as Moscow, Washington inch closer to missile defense deal; Bulgaria comes aboard

Debating the shape of U.S. defenses...; ...and future strategic posture; Naval deployments to protect Europe...; ...and Patriots to Poland

Last March, when the Obama administration's outreach to Russia was still in its embryonic stages, America's chief diplomat made a major gaffe. Meeting in Geneva with her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented him with a symbolic red button, meant to signify the "reset" of bilateral relations publicly being advocated by the new president. But the button was mislabeled; in a glaring error of translation, it boasted the label peregruzka (overload), rather than perezagruzka (reload). Both Clinton and Lavrov were quick to laugh off the incident, but a serious message had inadvertently been sent: that the Obama administration was woefully out of its depth on foreign affairs.

That unfortunate episode sprang to mind last month, when Presidents Obama and Medvedev announced that work on a successor to the now-defunct 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) had been concluded. Details of the deal--predictably named "New START"--have now been made public, and they confirm that the latest exercise in U.S.-Russian arms control is flawed on at least three fronts.

New movement in "New Europe"...; ...amid intransigence in Istanbul; A nuclear football of a different sort; Zero-sum in South Asia

SORE WINNERS IN SRI LANKA; INDIA WARMS TO TALKS WITH THE TALIBAN; BOMB BLAST IN PUNE BREAKS INDIAN PEACE; INDIAS BM PROGRAM RAISES EYEBROWS IN ASIA

Holding the line on missile defense?; CTBT, nuclear disarmament back on the agenda; U.S. nuclear modernization: too little, too late?; ABL's blaze of glory

A failing grade in WMD defense...; ...a slipping timeline for space, nuclear priorities...; ...and a status quo approach to strategic forces; Russia plans response to Polish Patriots; Hamas, rearmed

Pentagon frets over China's space program...; ...as India eyes the stars; Kremlin seeks to bring back balance of terror; Iron Dome inches forward; Beijing flexes its missile defense muscles