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North Korea’s February 2016 Satellite Launch
Q1: What did North Korea launch?
PacNet #16 - North Korea missile launch: what comes next?
A month and a day after conducting its fourth nuclear test, North Korea launched a multi-stage rocket carrying a 440-pound satellite. The launch of the Taepodong missile defied a United Nations ban, once again placing North Korea in direct defiance of international norms.
The Absence of Consensus
- The latest missile test this weekend (February 7) indicates DPRK fluency with long-range missile launch technology -- they know how to put a payload into orbit. Unclear is whether they can accurately guide a warhead back through the atmosphere to a target thousands of miles away.
The Changing Patterns of Arms Imports in the Middle East and North Africa
Now Comes the Hard Part: Five Priorities in the Continuing Fight against Boko Haram
Boko Haram militants launched a brutal assault on three villages just outside of the Borno State capital of Maiduguri on Saturday, fire-bombing houses, detonating improvised explosives and suicide vests, and leaving an estimated 85 to 100 people dead. Assailants reportedly seized food and livestock before torching the villages of Dalori, Walori, and Kofa.
Leadership Changes and Upcoming Obama Visit Give U.S. New Opportunities in Laos
Leadership changes announced at a recently completed congress of the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President Barack Obama’s planned visit to Vientiane in September, the first ever to Laos by a sitting U.S.
Issues and Insights Vol. 16, No. 2 - Next Steps for Nuclear Security Governance in the Asia Pacific
The Pacific Forum CSIS, in partnership with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and with the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, held a Nuclear Energy Experts Group (NEEG) meeting in Singapore, Singapore on October 15-16, 2015. It brought together 34 specialists from 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific and beyond, all attending in their private capacities.
PacNet #10A-R - Response to PacNet #10A “What is North Korea up to with its fourth nuclear test?â€
James Przystup (Przystupj@ndu.edu) is a Senior Fellow at the National Defense University Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
Evaluating Future U.S. Army Force Posture in Europe
This report offers a reexamination of U.S. Army force posture in Europe amid heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over the geopolitical orientation of Ukraine. This study reviews Russian military capabilities; considers alternative U.S.
PacNet #15 - The threat to China’s security isn’t THAAD, it’s North Korea
The Human Cost of War in the Middle East: A Graphic Overview
War is always a tragedy in human terms, but the four wars in the Middle East have raised the level of that tragedy to truly massive proportions. These costs are summarized in detail in a new analysis by the Burke Chair at CSIS entitled The Human Cost of War in the Middle East: A Graphic Overview.
PacNet #13R - Response to PacNet #13 “Here we go again!â€
Winston Lord served as president of the Council on Foreign relations, US ambassador to China, and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He responded via the Nelson Report, which had kindly reprinted PacNet #13.
PacNet #14 - The Japan-Korea comfort women deal: this is only the beginning
The cycle of negativity surrounding Japan-South Korea relations since the Abe-Park era began in early 2013 has at times eclipsed North Korea as a source of angst among observers of Northeast Asia.
Creeping Incrementalism: U.S. Forces and Strategy in Iraq and Syria from 2011 to 2016: An Update
Please note: This commentary has been updated to reflect a new briefing by a Department of Defense spokesman.
New Tools for Collaboration
The Intelligence Community does not lag far behind the private sector in using collaborative tools; indeed, it has developed an impressive array.
PacNet #12 - Alliance maintenance in the Turnbull Era: a good driver isn’t everything
Commentary in Australia since Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s inaugural visit to Washington last week has focused, naturally enough, on the dynamic that a new leader brings to the alliance.
National Commission on the Future of the Army
Last year the Congress established the National Commission on the Future of the Army (NCFA) in an attempt to resolve what might be called a civil war within the Army. The commission published its final report on January 28, 2016. Here’s a quick look at where the commission came from, what it found and recommended, and the views of CSIS experts on how well the commission did.
Issues and Insights Vol. 16, No. 1 - Development Cooperation with North Korea: Expanding the Debate Beyond the Political Horizon
Policy makers in the United States, South Korea, China and other countries continuously craft plans of action for a potential future scenario when North Korea becomes more open, either by collapse or through a gradual process. This paper seeks to spark a similar discussion but about development cooperation with North Korea.
NATO’s Nuclear Policy as Part of a Revitalized Deterrence Strategy
NATO’s strategy for transatlantic security, throughout the Cold War and to the present day, has been based on deterrence of potential adversaries through a mixture of both conventional and nuclear forces.