Topic: Robert Gates
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North Korea abandons armistice: 4 key questions answered
Tensions on the Korean peninsula are ratcheting up. The US has started its annual war games with South Korean forces, and North Korea has used that fact to declare that it is invalidating the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953. What really has North Korea upset, though, is the tough, new sanctions passed by the United Nations in response to the North's nuclear test last month.Here are the top four questions analysts are wrestling with on the heels of these developments.
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Pentagon budget: top 3 winners and losers
In Pentagon parlance, the word “cut” is a relative term. The Defense Department’s base budget decreases from $553 billion this year to $525 billion in 2013, but it rebounds steadily to $567 billion in 2017. With this in mind, here are the top three winners and losers:
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Five ways 9/11 has transformed the US military
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Who will carry out Obama's Afghanistan exit plan? Three new guys.
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In Pictures: Leon Panetta's career
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F-35 jet a waste of taxpayers' dollars, say McCain, Gates
F-35 jet: Defense Sec. Robert Gates, the Pentagon, the White House and Sen. John McCain all say development of a second F-35 jet engine is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
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John Boehner takes on government-funded jobs – unless they're in Ohio
House Speaker John Boehner says 'so be it' if budget cutting puts government employees out of work. In the end, would that help the unemployment rate or hurt it?
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Iraq war: why US military withdrawal might not happen in 2011
The US military is scheduled to leave Iraq in December 2011, ending its involvement in the Iraq war. But it looks increasingly likely that Iraq will ask for some US troops to stay.
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House votes to scrap F-35 engine: why Gates can't crow too loudly
The House voted Wednesday to stop funding for an alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter – a program Defense Secretary Robert Gates called 'unnecessary.' But his arm-twisting of Congress is far from finished.
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Why Pentagon budget cuts might not be as impressive as they sound
At $553 billion, the Pentagon budget is $13 billion less than expected. But it is still up from last year, and many of the biggest planned cuts are in the uncertain future.
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US-Egyptian military ties: How much leverage does the Pentagon have?
The Egyptian military could play a pivotal role in resolving the crisis, but the Pentagon must weigh carefully how hard a line it wants to take with its Egyptian counterparts.
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Opinion: Pentagon cuts don't cut it. Want to really save money? Get a new security strategy.
Billions in Pentagon cuts touted by Gates and Obama recently don’t represent real decreases to defense spending. With troops in more than 150 of the world's 195 countries, the US needs to abandon its cold-war era deployment strategy. It's time for our wealthy allies to pull their weight.
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Pentagon divulges few details on 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal
Despite a comprehensive study on the subject, the Pentagon offers few specifics about how it will implement the 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal. The process could begin this month.
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Opinion: US military's last barrier to equality: ban on women in combat
An outdated Pentagon policy bars women from more than 220,000 US military positions. Yet the Army is gaming the restrictions by attaching women to combat units. The current policy is a legal fiction that not only degrades equality, but combat efficiency. It's high time we rescind it.
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Q&A with Senator Richard Lugar
Senator Richard Lugar (R) of Indiana, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, discussed Chinese President Hu Jintao's degree of control over the Chinese military, the consequences of US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Tea Party opposition to his reelection in 2012 at a Jan. 18 Monitor breakfast.
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Tea party to GOP: Don't spare Pentagon from budget ax
Tea party-backed GOP freshmen are eyeing the Pentagon – which remains the largest single spender of government dollars. Do they have the clout to target even cherished GOP priorities?
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The Monitor's View: From Tunisia to Wikileaks to the Stuxnet worm, a cascade of cyberevents
Digital advances such as the Internet are pushing events ever faster, for good or ill. The world needs to get ahead of this train to determine its path.
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China-US summit: Which country gained the most?
China got all the pomp and stature of a state visit, while President Obama came off as more assertive than he did during his Beijing visit in 2009. But tangible results of the summit are less certain.
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In Pictures: Hu Jintao's Washington visit
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Hu Jintao in America: 7 questions about the Chinese president's visit
Hu Jintao will be the guest of President Obama this week for what some US-China experts are calling the most important US visit by a Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping’s groundbreaking trip in 1979. The intrigue then was around the opening-up of the communist giant. But some three decades later the focus is very different, as China becomes an increasingly active and self-confident player both in the international economy and on the global diplomatic stage. Here are seven key questions pertaining to US-China relations in light of President Hu's visit:
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China's Hu Jintao's visit: South Korea is worried Obama will cave on North Korea talks
South Korea’s main concern appears to be that Obama does not acquiesce to Hu’s call for six-party talks without the South’s full agreement – and without concessions on the part of North Korea.
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China's President Hu Jintao goes to Washington
As China and the US emerge from a year of diplomatic spats, Beijing appears more optimistic than Washington on what can come out of President Hu Jintao's visit to the White House this week.
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A Chinese menu for President Hu Jintao's visit to the US
Here's a list of things to watch for as President Hu Jintao visits the US Jan. 18-21, starting with the body language between Hu and Obama.
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Gates: nuclear talks possible if North Korea stops 'dangerous provocations'
Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in Seoul Friday for a meeting with South Korean President Lee, who stressed the need for US cooperation to solve the North Korean nuclear issue.
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In Pictures: China's landmarks
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The Monitor's View: Can Obama cut the military in the face of a rising China?
Secretary Gates's trip to China only revealed an emboldened Beijing on the eve of President Hu's visit to Washington, especially on the issue of Taiwan.
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Gates's China visit: Beijing confirms stealth fighter test flights
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited China this week and said Tuesday that President Hu Jintao confirmed that China had carried out its first test flight of a stealth fighter jet.
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Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 01/10
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Gates's challenge in China: Why he's looking far beyond J-20 stealth fighters
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who arrives Sunday in Beijing, seeks to put military relations on an even keel – despite recently released photos of China's J-20 stealth fighter.
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Taliban bomb kills Afghan police chief, 16 civilians in Kandahar bathhouse
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, which came only a day after the US announced it was sending more troops to Afghanistan.
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