Assad’s Legacy of Chemical Weapons

MV Cape Ray Arrives in the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro July 2014 to receive Syrian chemical weapons for destruction at sea. Photo credit: James Foggo.

The events that unfolded in Syria over the last weeks surprised not only the United States, but also Russia, Iran, and the Syrian people themselves. As Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus for asylum in Russia, his security forces shed their uniforms and their weapons and disappeared into the countryside. One of the most concerning things still […]

Next Steps in the Red Sea: Offense, Not Just Defense

USS Carney (DDG 64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, October 19, 2023. Photo Credit: U.S. Navy/Cover Images via Reuters Connect.

Recent events in the transit lanes of the Red Sea have underscored the need for international action to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping traffic. Attacks on commercial ships by the Iranian proxy Houthi regime in Yemen have become a daily occurrence, not seen since Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf from […]

India’s Military Diplomacy

Indian Navy officers stand on the flight deck of India's first home-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in Kochi, India, September 2022. Photo credit: REUTERS

India, the world’s second most populous nation and sixth largest economy, is a nuclear weapons state with conventional forces among the largest in the world and a current defense budget of $72 billion. In 1971, India’s military prevailed over Pakistan to midwife the birth of Bangladesh. In 1999, it again chastised Pakistan for clandestine territorial […]