Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1647
Russian-Iraqi relations inch toward normalcy;
Moscow's power play
Russian-Iraqi relations inch toward normalcy;
Moscow's power play
Bringing Belarus back into the fold;
Reviving the Syrian client-state relationship
Editorial raises concerns about China's health care overhaul;
Russia hints at interest in Chinese border control equipment
Beijing rooting out Triad connections within the party;
Unrest still brewing in Xinjiang
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Obama administration's decision last Thursday to scrap missile-defense deployments in Poland and the Czech Republic is that it was so long in coming. Mr. Obama has defended his decision on both technical and financial grounds. The Bush administration's plans to deploy ground-based interceptors in Poland and early warning radars in the Czech Republic were targeted as part of his campaign pledge to eliminate billions of dollars in missile-defense spending. Instead, the White House now has pledged to develop a new theater and sea-based missile-defense architecture for Europe that "will provide stronger, smarter, and swifter defenses of American forces and America's allies." But what about defense of America?