REGIONAL SECURITY ISSUES LATEST STATEMENTS, BRIEFINGS, AND HEARINGS
Here are more links relevant to Regional Security Issues, including congressional hearings, testimonies, and policy briefs
Quadrennial Defense Review Report.
U.S. Dept of Defense, February 2010
The Quadrennial Defense Review, released today, seeks to rebalance the military to better fight today’s wars and to institutionalize department reforms, the undersecretary of defense for policy said.
The report to Congress provides a strategy-driven framework used for determining the department’s priorities, Michele Flournoy said in a recent interview.
People and today’s wars, she said, are the most important aspects of the report.
The report, Flournoy said, mirrors Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ priorities. The first is to prevail in today’s wars. The second is to prevent and deter conflicts. The third is to prepare the department for a wide range of contingencies and the fourth is to preserve and enhance the all-volunteer force.
http://www.defense.gov/qdr/QDR as of 26JAN10 0700.pdf (128 pages, 14 MB)
http://fpc.state.gov/136551.htm (Link to briefing on publication of the report)
Ballistic Missile Defense Review
U.S. Dept of Defense, February 1, 2010
The Ballistic Missile Defense Review released today aligns U.S. missile defense posture with near-term regional missile threats, and sustains the ability to defend the homeland against limited long-range missile attack, said Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy.
Flournoy today described six major priorities that will shape U.S. missile defense at a Pentagon news conference.
The first goes to the heart of defense and that is to defend the United States from a limited ballistic missile attack. The second is to defend against growing regional threats.
A third priority is “to test new systems under realistic conditions before they’re deployed to ensure their effectiveness,” Flournoy said.
The fourth priority is to develop new fiscally sustainable capabilities, while the fifth is to develop flexible capabilities that can adapt as threats evolve. Finally, the United States wants to lead expanded international cooperation on missile defense, she said.
http://www.defense.gov/bmdr/BMDR%20as%20of%2026JAN10%200630_for%20web.pdf (61 pages)
Global Zero Summit
Ellen Tauscher, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, February 3, 2010
On March 1, the Obama administration will release its Nuclear Posture Review, which will reduce role and number of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy. For the first time, there has been significant State Department participation in the Nuclear Posture Review. We have made sure to fully address all matters relating to our nuclear posture. We also have spent a significant amount of time consulting our allies because it is our goal to strengthen their security as well.
At April's Nuclear Security Summit, the President will bring 44 nations together to advance his goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years, so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists.
In May, we will strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime at the Review Conference and work with allies and partners to ensure that the rights and responsibilities of every nation are enforced.
We are also working to start negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament on a treaty to halt fissile material production, so that we don’t add to global stockpiles of highly enriched uranium or weapons grade plutonium.
And, when we’re ready, we will ask the United States Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
http://www.state.gov/t/us/136425.htm
Addressing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Internationalizing Enrichment Services and Solving the Problem of Spent Fuel Storage
Ellen Tauscher, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, January 19, 2010
If a country in good standing with its nonproliferation obligations encounters a supply problem and is unable to find a commercial solution, it could turn to the IAEA, which in turn could request enriched uranium from the Angarsk reserve. In a manner consistent with its national laws, Russia could transfer the material to the IAEA, which would arrange for fabrication into fuel and delivery to the country in question.
This all sounds straightforward, but there are underlying challenges that need to be reconciled, including:
First, the IAEA’s perceived need to determine eligibility only on the basis of the record of compliance with safeguards;
Second, the laws of supplier countries placing much more stringent conditions on transfers of enriched uranium, including the NSG guidelines;
And finally, a feeling on the part of many developing countries that fuel assurances are intended ultimately to preserve a chokehold over nuclear fuel supplies and to deny them their NPT rights to nuclear technology.
http://www.state.gov/t/us/136426.htm
America and the Iranian Political Reform Movement: First, Do No Harm
Hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, February 3, 2010
Witnesses:
Ms. Geneive Abdo, Director, Iran Program, The Century Foundation
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/111/abd020310.pdf
Mr. Mehdi Khalaji, Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/111/kha020310.pdf
Fariborz Ghadar, Ph.D., Distinguished Scholar and Senior Advisor , Center for Strategic and International Studies
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/111/kha020310.pdf
Mr. J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/111/car020310.pdf
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing_notice.asp?id=1148 (Links to webcast)
Al Qaeda and Affiliates: Historical Perspective, Global Presence, and Implications for U.S. Policy
Congressional Research Service, February 9th, 2010
Al Qaeda (AQ) has evolved into a significantly different terrorist organization than the one that perpetrated the September 11, 2001, attacks. At the time, Al Qaeda was composed mostly of a core cadre of veterans of the Afghan insurgency against the Soviets, with a centralized leadership structure, made up mostly of Egyptians. Most of the organization’s plots either emanated from the top or were approved by the leadership. Some analysts describe pre-9/11 Al Qaeda as akin to a corporation, with Osama Bin Laden acting as an agile Chief Executive Officer issuing orders and soliciting ideas from subordinates.
Some would argue that the Al Qaeda of that period no longer exists. Out of necessity, due to pressures from the security community, in the ensuing years it has transformed into a diffuse global network and philosophical movement composed of dispersed nodes with varying degrees of independence. The core leadership, headed by Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, is thought to live in the mountainous tribal belt of northwest Pakistan, where it continues to train operatives, recruit, and disseminate propaganda. But Al Qaeda franchises or affiliated groups active in countries such as Yemen and Somalia now represent critical power centers in the larger movement. Some affiliates receive money, training, and weapons; others look to the core leadership in Pakistan for strategic guidance, theological justification, and a larger narrative of global struggle. Over the past year senior government officials have assessed the trajectory of Al Qaeda to be “less centralized command and control, (with) no clear center of gravity, and likely rising and falling centers of gravity, depending on where the U.S. and the international focus is for that period.” While a degraded corporate Al Qaeda may be welcome news to many, a trend has emerged over the past few years that some view as more difficult to detect, if not potentially more lethal.
The Al Qaeda network today also comprises semi-autonomous or self radicalized actors, who often have only peripheral or ephemeral ties to either the core cadre in Pakistan or affiliated groups elsewhere. According to U.S. officials Al Qaeda cells and associates are located in over 70 countries. Sometimes these individuals never leave their home country but are radicalized with the assistance of others who have traveled abroad for training and indoctrination through the use of modern technologies. In many ways, the dispersion of Al Qaeda affiliates fits into the larger strategy of Bin Laden and his associates. They have sought to serve as the vanguard of a religious movement that inspires Muslims and other individuals aspiring to join a jihadi movement to help establish a global caliphate through violent means. The name “Qaeda” means “base” or “foundation,” upon which its members hope to build a robust, geographically-diverse network.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/R41070.pdf
Updated: February 17, 2010.
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