Rizwan Ladha

Iran claims its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the majority of the rest of the world questions this assertion. And for good reason: A thorough assessment of the evidence shows that Iran's end goal is a nuclear weapons capability, not nuclear energy.

Before we get into evidence, though,...

The Obama administration's announcement two weeks ago to negotiate with "reconcilable" members of the Haqqani network continues its prudent and sensible policy of engaging Pakistan to combat terrorism and rebuild Afghanistan. But the Pakistanis do not see things quite the same way, and this evolution in U.S. strategy may actually...

The largely positive meeting between Pakistan and India’s foreign ministers last week marks an uptick in bilateral relations, but the two countries still have a long way to go.

On Wednesday, July 27, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna met with his newly inducted Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani...

Congress just took a small but important bipartisan step to make America safer.

On July 13 the House of Representatives approved an amendment offered by Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), along with Rick Larsen (D-WA) and John Garamendi (D-CA), to increase by $35 million the funding...

Pakistan often makes rhetorical statements that are contradictory to its actions -- which is not the way to make long-term, sustainable progress on the security issues of most concern to Pakistan, its neighbors and its partners. The problem is that the rest of us are not doing enough to put...

The Obama administration is preparing to implement the first phase of its military drawdown in Afghanistan at a time when nuclear security inside Pakistan is at its most tenuous. That already delicate situation has only become more fragile in the weeks following the killing of Osama bin Laden...

For over sixty years, the United States has maintained a large and costly nuclear arsenal, composed of heavy bombers, submarine-launched missiles, and intercontinental missiles. Perhaps it's time for a change.

Of course, so long as nuclear weapons exist in the world, the U.S. must maintain a credible and reliable deterrent...

Tonight, at 11:35pm EST on a Sunday evening, President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden is now dead, thanks to U.S. action taken within Pakistan. This is a tremendous breakthrough in America's self-proclaimed "war on terror," and certainly newsworthy. More importantly, it is a rare but special moment of justice...

In the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that overwhelmed the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, and as workers continue battling the second and third-degree effects of the disaster, important questions are being raised about the future of nuclear energy in the United States.

The U.S. Department...

Breaking news: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak just stepped down and transferred power to Vice President Omar Suleiman and the armed forces.

As an interested observer who has watched the protests continue for the past few weeks, I have been struck most by what I understand to be...

The Global Security Newswire ran a short article on Wednesday 1/12 on the recently-inked civilian nuclear energy pact between France and India, wherein the French company Areva would build two nuclear power reactors at a site in India. The snag right now is that the construction of these...

This article will be short, but hopefully to the point: New START must be ratified because right now, and as of December 6 of last year, we can no longer see inside the Russian nuclear complex, and we don't know what's going on there.

In order to succeed, arms control...

Today, November 2, is midterm election day in the US, and by nearly all credible accounts, the Republican Party seems poised to make big gains when voters go to the polls. Interestingly, this time around these victories will be based overwhelmingly on domestic issues -- namely the economy and jobs...

UPDATE, Oct. 9 2010: Thanks to all who have read and commented. I feel that I would be remiss to not provide some clarification on my own position regarding this article and its substantive arguments.

This might be old hat to others, but this morning I read a fascinating and eye-opening Businessweek article on the intricacies of defense acquisition for the Pentagon and how much of the essential components required to operate critical equipment -- from submarines to tanks to laser-guided smart bombs...

Last week, I was sitting in a class on international treaty obligations and compliance with Antonia Chayes, Professor of International Politics and Law at The Fletcher School. We were discussing the difficulties of (a) ratifying an international treaty at home and (b) complying with said treaty after ratification,...

Sadly, though the current fixation of national debate is still the "Ground Zero Mosque," public opinion polls indicate that American sentiment towards the bomb has become ambivalent, and most recently, dangerously lukewarm -- something I discussed in my piece last week.

But the issue can...

Why do we sometimes ignore facts and stubbornly continue to believe in falsehoods?

A quick example: Not that I'd have a problem with it if he were, but President Obama is not a Muslim. Yet an unsettling percentage of Americans still believe he is. In March of this...

I'm noticing what might be a curious trend lately in Hollywood: movies are being made about nuclear weapons again. Much like the so-called "nuclear renaissance," which captures the current renewed global interest in nuclear power to address energy needs, there seems to be a revitalization of interest in making movies...

Tomorrow, August 6, marks the 65th anniversary of the US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. On that day, and in the coming weeks and months as a result of the ensuing fire and radiation, 140,000 Japanese civilians died. An additional 80,000 would perish in Nagasaki, when three days later the US...