The Trump administration’s plan to cut 12,000 US troops from Germany will hurt NATO, undermine America’s global reputation, help Russia by reducing US troops in Germany by a third and stoking discord among key alliance members, and waste time and money.
Whoever wins the presidency in November must take a cue from President Eisenhower to craft a similar long-term approach toward China — as well as Russia — and shape a force needed to deter, and if necessary, defeat both, but on a budget.
Emily Lau, the former chairperson and current chair of the foreign affairs committee of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, discusses Hong Kong’s drive for democracy, how the world can support protesters and standing up to China with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2019 Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our coverage was sponsored by Boeing and Leonardo DRS.
Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer minced no words about the USS Gerald R. Ford’s struggles and recent lawmaker comments about the ship while talking to reporters in Norfolk on Oct. 28, shortly after arriving back from a several hour visit to the ship, which is undergoing trials off the Virginia Coast. Defense & Aerospace Report’s Mark Faram was present at the discussion and captured this video.
Matt Donovan, the acting US Air Force secretary, discusses the outlook for the department’s budget, future spending, making hard tradeoffs to ensure a more capable force in an era of great power competition with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Air Force Association’s 2019 Air Space Cyber conference and tradeshow outside Washington, DC. Our coverage was sponsored by L3 Harris and Leonardo DRS.
Hans Binnendijk, PhD, former special assistant to the president and former senior director for defense policy now a senior fellow at SAIS and adjust political scientist at RAND, and Dov Zakheim, PhD, former under secretary of defense (comptroller) who is now an Atlantic Council board member, discuss the health of the NATO alliance, challenges and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the NATO Engages event in Washington to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance. The event was sponsored by the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund, the Munich Security Conference and other leading organizations like the German Foreign Ministry and other think tanks.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., the chairman of the House government operations subcommittee as well as chairman of the US delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly, discusses NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s historic address to a joint session of Congress and the Atlantic Alliance on its 70th anniversary with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the NATO Engages event marking the 70th anniversary of the Washington Treaty that founded the alliance on April 4, 1949, sponsored by the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund, the Munich Security Conference and numerous other leading think tanks.
Fred Kempe, the president and CEO of the Atlantic Council think tank, discusses the need for a global NATO and the alliance at 70, his take on Vice President Mike Pence’s address to the NATO Engages conference — co-sponsored by the Atlantic Council, German Marshall Fund, the Munich Security Conference and other key think tank’s — as well as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s address to the US Congress. The interview was conducted at the NATO Engages event marking the 70th anniversary of the Washington Treaty that founded the alliance on April 4, 1949, with 12 nations that over the decades as grown to 29 nations.
Amb. (Ret.) Doug Lute, a retired US Army lieutenant general who served as US ambassador to NATO, and Amb. (Ret.) Nick Burns, one of America’s top former diplomats who also served as US ambassador to NATO — both now affiliated with Harvard University — discuss their new report “NATO at Seventy: An Alliance in Crisis” and the vital importance of the Atlantic Alliance and America’s role in it with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Center for a New American Security where the report by Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs was publicly released.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the current ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee who will become chairman in January, discusses defense spending outlook, nuclear modernization, Afghanistan strategy and more with Defense & Aerospace Editor Vago Muradian during the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Our coverage was sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS