National Security and Defense

Ballistic Missile Defense Technical Studies Series Study 5 This study is part of a series of technical reports commissioned by The Heritage Foundation to examine programmatic issues related to ballistic missile defense. Since the George W. Bush Administration withdrew the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty… Read more

Abstract: The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has repeatedly adapted to meet a range of national security concerns. First created to confront the growing Soviet bomber threat, NORAD’s mission has been expanded to provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America. However, U.S.… Read more

A few Members of Congress, motivated by American combat in the Middle East, have called for the reinstatement of a compulsory military draft. The case for coercing young citizens to join the military is supposedly based on social jus­tice?that all should serve?and… Read more

Interactive U.S. map of troop representation levels Who serves in the active-duty ranks of the U.S. all-volunteer military? Conventional wisdom holds that military service disproportionately attracts minorities and… Read more

I considered titling my talk today: "Malaysia-U.S. Defense Cooperation: The Untold Story." The reason is that for many years U.S. and Malaysian forces have cooperated on a wide range of missions with virtually no fanfare or public acknowledgement. And in spite of its success, our bilateral defense relationship seems to be an all too… Read more

A pillar of conventional wisdom about the U.S. military is that the quality of volunteers has been degraded after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Examples of the voices making this claim range from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and New York Daily News [1] to Michael Moore's pseudo-documentary Fahrenheit… Read more

Abstract: President Barack Obama’s defense budget request perpetuates a long-standing pattern of underfunding defense needs. Defense spending is already near historic lows, and the Administration’s budget would reduce it to levels unprecedented during wartime. Furthermore, Congress appears poised to repeat the past mistake of… Read more

Abstract: The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has repeatedly adapted to meet a range of national security concerns. First created to confront the growing Soviet bomber threat, NORAD’s mission has been expanded to provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America. However, U.S.… Read more

Ballistic Missile Defense Technical Studies Series Study 5 This study is part of a series of technical reports commissioned by The Heritage Foundation to examine programmatic issues related to ballistic missile defense. Since the George W. Bush Administration withdrew the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty… Read more

The U.S.–U.K. Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty, which was signed in 2007 and ratified by Britain in 2008, has the support of the Obama Administration. But the Administration has not worked hard enough to allay the concerns that have so far prevented the U.S. Senate from ratifying the treaty. … Read more

A close examination of the White House’s National Space Policy[1] released on June 28 reveals that national security is subordinated to policies for seeking cooperation, transparency, and most of all, arms control agreements regarding space systems and operations. Putting arms control at the center of the National Space… Read more

Abstract: In 2007, Congress mandated that the Trans­portation Security Administration must screen 100 percent of all… Read more

Abstract: President Barack Obama’s defense budget request perpetuates a long-standing pattern of underfunding defense needs. Defense spending is already near historic lows, and the Administration’s budget would reduce it to levels unprecedented during wartime. Furthermore, Congress appears poised to repeat the past mistake of… Read more

Abstract: The ill-advised and unnecessary Notice Pleading Restoration Act of 2009 and the Open Access to Courts Act of 2009 would severely weaken the federal civil pleading standard, encouraging frivolous litigation and harming national security. Such an almost nonexistent pleading standard would weaken U.S.… Read more

On May 28, the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the United Nations concluded with the adoption of a Final Document that ostensibly reaffirms the importance of the NPT. Unfortunately, the Final Document is unfocused and actually undermines the NPT—thereby weakening the broader nuclear nonproliferation regime.… Read more

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has bowed to the inevitable and announced his resignation, abruptly terminating his troubled administration. Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a historic victory in the powerful lower house election last August, ending the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) 50-year reign. The DPJ’s landslide win ushered in… Read more