Throughout the world, stockpiles of uranium and plutonium, as well as other radioactive materials, are stored in inadequate facilities  The recent terrorist attack in Brussels should remind the world that nuclear security has never been more important. Even with the disarmament of many Cold War era weapons, poorly secured stockpiles of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium remain across the globe, several of which have experienced security breaches in recent years. Without action to keep these materials from terrorist groups and other nonstate actors an act of nuclear terrorism becomes all the more likely. In 2010, the Obama administration convened the first Nuclear Security Summit…

January 15, 2014 PRESIDENTIAL POLICY DIRECTIVE/PPD-27 SUBJECT:United States Conventional Arms Transfer Policy Conventional weapons have continued to play a decisive role in armed conflict in the early 21st century and will remain legitimate instruments for the defense and security policy of responsible nations for the foreseeable future. In the hands of hostile or irresponsible state and non-state actors, however, these weapons can exacerbate international tensions, foster instability, inflict substantial damage, enable transnational organized crime, and be used to violate universal human rights. Therefore, global conventional arms transfer patterns have significant implications for U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, and…

The intelligence service of Israel considers a potential Sunni-Shiite war in Syria a favorable development for the country and the West, according to an email archive of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, released by WikiLeaks. The author of the email, forwarded by Clinton in July 2012, argued that Israel is convinced Iran would lose “its only ally” in the Middle East, if the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad collapses. “The fall of the House of Assad could well ignite a sectarian war between the Shiites and the majority Sunnis of the region drawing in Iran, which, in the view of Israeli commanders would not be a bad thing for Israel and its Western allies,”…

From Napoleon to Donald Trump, it has always been tempting to empower individuals who seem extraordinary. It has also always been a mistake. member that delightful period right after the Cold War, when globalization was the buzzword du jour, democracy was spreading like wildfire, and America’s political and economic system seemed like an attractive model? Academics who should have known better believed realism was headed for the dustbin of history, and lots of smart people thought tyrants, dictators, potentates, and other authoritarians were living on borrowed time. They believed the vox populi would grow ever louder, more and more countries would install representative institutions,…

U.S. Senator Rand Paul made a stop at Centre College Saturday to hold a town hall meeting. He used the setting to argue against what he sees as the two biggest issues facing the nation — big government and debt. Paul spoke to a crowd of about 100 people at the Vahlkamp Theatre in Centre’s Crounse Hall. The visit was one of a series of town-hall-style meetings held over the course of about a week in 20 cities across the state. Paul said the national debt needs to be reduced and he argued against a top-down approach to government, where…