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Intelligence officials are saying that even after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the biggest threats to the US are from other countries. Because we can't go to war with everyone (and the number of people that wars hurt fuel anti-US sentiment) I wonder if a more effective strategy against these threats will be developed.

Such an astute observation and good question. Empires have fallen on the swords, so to speak, from spending too much on their militaries at the expense of infrastructure and "human infrastructure."

You hate to see that these fires are impacting these world wonders

I think a policy implementation to fight climate change that would not be that hard would be to increase the budget to fund firefighters.

I hope nothing bad happens to those trees ;-;

This is interesting because even though the computers have changed so much it is fairly rare to see it used as a weapon. Apparently there have been lots of cyber attacks and counter attacks between the US and Iran and defense secretary Leon E. Panetta said that the US was at risk of a "Cyber Pearl Harbor". This raises the question of whether cyberspace could be a new front for warfare.

This article demonstrates the threat that cyberattacks pose to governments, economies, and even the people. Throughout middle school children like me we were warned of the seriousness of cyberbullying and how it could truly damage the feelings of others. However, the threats of a Cyber world war could be drastic to people all over the world. While there is no hard evidence that the latest attacks have been sanctioned by the Iranian government, the attacks have increased the disdain between Iran and the United States. In many ways the conflict does resemble bullying. Iran wants to prove that they have some power over the United states by attempting to damage our economy. They are using this entirely new medium of cyberspace to let out this aggression. The question is whether we are on the brink of a cyber war and what the consequences will be to the economy and freedom of information.

Check this out! How would security forces in other countries deal with the threat?

This article is based off of a threat by Al Qaeda and is a warning to all Americans traveling in Europe. As the article mentions, what is unique about this terrorist warning is that it is not specific to any country; the threat is for all of Europe, not enough information can be figured out. This hits home a little more than just hearing about a terrorist plot in Europe, because now it has become a warning to all Americans traveling abroad.

I think its interesting that piracy is increasing throughout the world. Personally, I feel that its good that other countries are working to counter this threat.

I found it interesting that American-made American flags are lower quality than those made in China. It struck me as very similar to the situation faced by the speaker who came to talk to us about her bag business: how she had to outsource because she couldn't find a quality producer in the U.S. Something that bothered me is that many of the flags are synthetic; if the government is going to hand our hundreds of free flags that might just get thrown away, it seems as though it would be better to at least make them out of renewable materials like wood and cotton. However, I suppose that may be more expensive... Also, I visited the Jinteng factory website because I was curious if they specialized in a certain type of flag or not. It turns out that they make all different types of flags depending on the order, just as the jeans we saw in China Blue varied order by order. I suspect that although some workers feel frustrated making other countries' flags, their catalog indicates that they make flags for many countries, not just one, so any anger would perhaps be less likely to be directed toward a specific country due to constantly producing their flag.

I thought that it is sad (and ironic) that, as Matthew said, our symbols of freedom and patriotism are being paid for with people's rights (in China). I had never considered how 9/11 would have caused a drastic increase in demand for American flags, and though it shouldn't have, it surprised me that the low price of American flags from retailers such as Wal-Mart does not cover the production costs of the flags. Like Larkin, I found the juxtaposition of the symbols of the flag and where it is actually made notable. I also had the same question as Alison about whether any flags are actually made in the United States. I thought that Matthew did a nice job pointing out the odd juxtaposition and talking about the production cycle of the flag.

This article by Nate Silver, a well known economics blogger for the New York Times, takes an interesting stance on the Tucson assassination. He looks at it from a data analysis perspective and looks at the history of political assassinations in the U.S. He comes to the conclusion that there not enough data is released by the government about domestic terrorism to make any conclusions, but some of the statistics he presents are still interesting and good discussion points.

This article poses the important question of how the Muslim world would react to a strike on Iran, either from Israel or the United States. The article points out that given the recent hostility towards the West from the Innocence of Muslims film, most violence would be directed to the US. It is important to consider the way that Muslims outside of Iran would react to a strike on the nation.

I find the idea that should a physical threat be made against Iran that other Muslim occupied countries would unite to be quite accurate and terrifying. As alluded to in the Clash of Civilizations, I believe there to be a great possibility of an impending war based on religious beliefs. The Islamic community was already infuriated, especially with the U.S., by the Mohammed film. Any further attack (whether theoretical or physical) by the United States or by its allies could result in a quite dangerous situation.

An interesting and scary article from the US Defense Secretary's address last week. He explained that the country is vulnerable to foreign computer terrorists and a "Pearl Habor-like" attack is possible. The hackers could derail trains, contaminate water supplies, and knock out electrical grids throughout the country.

The GOP is willing to negotiate, but the Democrats are unwilling to negotiate. This inability to communicate could cause this standoff to go on and on.

Months after the Ukraine crisis, Ukrainian officials still rely on Russia for gas sources. Interestingly, the economic fighting between Russia and Ukraine allows Russia and rebels in Ukraine to shift the focus of negotiations with Kiev from securing the border between Russia and Ukraine to the current economic problem. The pro-Western government in Kiev is forced to compromise with Moscow in order to receive essentials for the upcoming chilly winter. The deal shows that the Kremlin is switching from a military to an economic strategy to fight Ukraine's efforts to align itself with the West. Russia now imposes a trade war threat. Ukraine is the transit route for Russian gas supplies to 28 other countries. Ukraine cannot afford an economic shock from fuel shortages, because its economy is already expected to shrink this year by 7 percent.

As the US armed forces have to scale back due to sequestration, the biggest problem afflicting the Army is how it will adapt--not only to budget cuts, but to a new era of warfare. Drone strikes and special operations are becoming more prominent and crucial for taking out national security threats in foreign countries, but do these smaller operations merit a downsizing of the the current active-duty troop body? Some top officials think it's important to maintain a larger army in case we need to mobilize (i.e. war with Iran or North Korea). On the other hand, other officials think a downsizing is imperative: today, the Army spends absurd amounts on health care and other benefits (52% increase since 2001), while ineffective officers remain in the army so they can receive retirement pensions. As Defense Analyst Arnold Punaro says in this article, "The Department of Defense [is going to turn] into a benefits company that occasionally kills a terrorist". In short, the US Army must change, but it's not clear how that will happen.

LONDON - On this day 14 years ago, Sept. 11, 2001, I was newly arrived in Berlin as bureau chief and doing an interview in a cafe. The normally unflappable bureau manager, Viktor Homola, telephoned and said I should get back to the office, because an airplane had just hit the World Trade Center in New York.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy called on Thursday for the suspension of the Schengen accord that lets people travel without passport checks between 26 European countries, saying the continent's migration crisis had made it unworkable. France also wants to establish a law that makes the goal of the asylum to ultimately result in sending the refugees back to their country once the threat is terminated.

I read the introduction to this book on google books. It provides an interesting overview to how the Pakistani government functions and the threat of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal and proliferation.

At a time when the globe is experiencing financial turmoil, it's nice to know that some people are still concerned with the fundamentals (such as a missile defense system with no actual practical use). Missile defense is the somewhat fictional art of shooting down big missiles with smaller missiles, or lasers, or whatever the MIT guys thought up this week. The article is written by the Secretary General of NATO however, so there is a high likelihood that some sort of missile defense system may be put in place. Probably a good idea to know more about it... Estimated cost: a billion?

Definitely something I don't think about every day. It'd be nice to know more about what "missile defense" actually means and what's happening in that field (anything going on besides the work of the "MIT guys"?).

I just read an article in last weeks "The Week" about potential terrorist threats all over Europe specifically in: Britain, France, and Germany. Apparently al Qaida was plotting large-scale attacks. I am curious about the legitimacy of this Missile Defense system because when ever i hear about them i think back to when Bush wanted to put a MIssile Defense system around our entire country.

This article is a fascinating exploration into the new era of Chinese influence, examining both China's meteoric rise to economic maturity and its continued military advancements. Indeed, looking at the rising role of China in the global military world, it is hard not to foresee a conflict looming, whether it be small or on a larger scale, with the Asian giant in the future. Despite our economy being linked with China's, the possibility for a trade war, which could escalate into something more serious, is a possibility that cannot be forgotten by US policymakers. Ultimately, China's rulership is unstable, revealing the most dangerous aspect of the nation's power, and the greatest threat posed to United States' interests in the future.