March 2013

commentary

A Gradually Escalating Carbon Tax Would Allow Businesses and Consumers Time to Prepare

A conservative, cost-efficient response to climate change involves sending price signals to people and businesses now so that they take steps to reduce emissions, writes Keith Crane.

Keith Crane

commentary

Remove Medicare's Straitjacket

Removing the constraints on Medicare would not only lead to lower prices at the drugstore, hospital and doctor's office, it could spark a new era of healthcare innovation, says Arthur Kellermann.

Arthur L. Kellermann

commentary

Why China's Suntech Might Not Be Alone in Heading Toward Bankruptcy

Demand for photovoltaic solar panels still primarily depends on government subsidies, as in most parts of the world solar power remains more expensive than conventional sources of electricity, says Keith Crane.

Keith Crane

commentary

America's Delicate Dance in the Pacific

Even if Japan and China ease the tensions in their dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyus islands, the United States should gird itself for further uncomfortable contingencies in the coming years, writes David Shlapak.

David A. Shlapak

commentary

Prices Will Still Be Dictated by World Markets and the Middle East Will Continue to Bedevil Policymakers

Even if the United States no longer imports oil from the Middle East, the United States will still be vulnerable to oil price shocks driven by developments in the Middle East, writes Keith Crane.

Keith Crane

commentary

Why Erdogan Wants Peace with the PKK

With the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) now apparently ready to try to peacefully resolve differences with Turkey, the prospects that the uprising will come to an end have improved, writes F. Stephen Larrabee.

F. Stephen Larrabee

commentary

Demonstration Effect

The most encouraging thing about President Obama's Jerusalem speech may have been the audience applause. Like President Reagan, Obama went soaring over the heads of officials, elites, and pundits, directly to Israel's citizenry, says Warren Bass.

Warren Bass

commentary

Guns in Homes: A Health Hazard

An ample body of evidence indicates that the benefits of keeping a gun for protection are substantially outweighed by the associated risks, writes Art Kellermann.

Arthur L. Kellermann

commentary

The Invasion of Iraq: A Balance Sheet

The costly removal of Saddam Hussein won no applause, earned no gratitude, established no reliable ally, and produced no lasting strategic benefit, says Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Making Heart Disease a Women's Issue

When it comes to women's health, cancer gets a good deal of the attention; somehow, it hasn’t fully registered that so many of our mothers, sisters, friends and daughters are being affected by another, often silent killer, writes Chloe E. Bird.

Chloe E. Bird @ChloeBirdPhD

blog

New RAND Study Examines Voting Patterns in Post-Mubarak Egypt

While much has been written on the electoral strength of Islamists in Egypt, most of the analysis has been done at the national level, ignoring regional divides within the country. A new report identifies the areas where Islamist parties run strongest, and the areas where non-Islamists are most competitive.

commentary

The Deeply Mixed Results of the Iraq War

Ten years after the United States and its allies invaded Iraq, it seems appropriate to ask a bottom-line question: Did the U.S. succeed? The U.S. came very close to losing the Iraq war of 2003-2011, writes Ben Connable.

Ben Connable

q&a

Grappling with the Sequester: Q&A with Charles Nemfakos

Will any good come out of the Pentagon's sequester-mandated spending cuts? If nothing else, it will drive folks to think the unthinkable, says Charles Nemfakos.

commentary

Iraq Isn't as Fragile as It Looks

Ten years after the Iraq war started, violence persists. Yet despite much pessimism, the new order survives without U.S. assistance. And it is a lot less fragile than it often appears, says Lowell Schwartz.

Lowell H. Schwartz

commentary

A Lesson from Iraq War: How to Outsource War to Private Contractors

Both to repeat the successes of private military contracting and to avoid the mistakes of contractors in the recent wars, the Department of Defense must consider several points specific to security contractors, writes Molly Dunigan.

Molly Dunigan