Military analysis.

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• Don't Waste Your Time on Russian-American Nuke Talks, Mr. President Nuclear-arms accords have little effect on the chances of nuclear war.
  Fred Kaplan Dec. 23, 2009
  
• Obama's War and Peace How the president accepted the Nobel while sending more troops to fight in Afghanistan.
  Fred Kaplan Dec. 10, 2009
  
• What We Don't Know Can Hurt Us The scariest thing Gen. McChrystal told Congress about Afghanistan.
  Fred Kaplan Dec. 8, 2009
  
• Explaining What Obama Meant About "Beginning" To Withdraw in July 2011 Obama's top aides go to Congress.
  Fred Kaplan Dec. 2, 2009
  
• Confessions of an Uncertain Columnist My mixed feelings about the war in Afghanistan.
  Fred Kaplan Nov. 30, 2009
  
• All Politics Is Tribal Obama's Afghanistan strategy should team our soldiers with their militias.
  Fred Kaplan Nov. 23, 2009
  
• Why Berlin Mattered How could one city mean so much?
  Fred Kaplan Nov. 6, 2009
  
• Friend or Foe? The worst thing about President Karzai's brother's CIA gig.
  Fred Kaplan Oct. 28, 2009
  
• Fill in the Numbers How the Pentagon sowed confusion with an incomplete recruitment report.
  Fred Kaplan Oct. 22, 2009
  
• Karzai Salesman How John Kerry got the Afghan leader to see sense.
  Fred Kaplan Oct. 21, 2009
  
• Count Off The Army says it exceeded its 2009 recruiting goals. But the numbers are very fishy.
  Fred Kaplan Oct. 16, 2009
  
• Obama's Middle Course There's a way to solve the Afghanistan mess without sending a lot more troops or leaving the country entirely.
  Fred Kaplan Oct. 13, 2009
  
• Insubordination? Should Gen. McChrystal stop speaking publicly about Afghan war strategy?
  Fred Kaplan Oct. 6, 2009
  
• Iran's Friendly Nuke Talk Is it a genuine breakthrough, or is Tehran just stringing us along?
  Fred Kaplan Oct. 2, 2009
  
• Two Questions Obama Must Ask Before Sending More Troops to Afghanistan And how to judge the responses.
  Fred Kaplan Sept. 30, 2009
  
• It's Not About the Troops Only a legitimate Afghan government can beat the Taliban.
  Fred Kaplan Sept. 22, 2009
  
• Shielded Obama's smart decision to scuttle Bush's European missile-defense plan.
  Fred Kaplan Sept. 17, 2009
  
• Can We Bribe Our Way to Victory? How distributing cash—to Karzai, Abdullah, and other bigwigs—could help us win in Afghanistan.
  Fred Kaplan Sept. 15, 2009
  
• Caution! Quagmire Ahead! The United States can't win in Afghanistan unless its new president makes major reforms, and quickly.
  Fred Kaplan Aug. 27, 2009
  
• Clinton in Pyongyang What's behind the former president's "private" trip to North Korea?
  Fred Kaplan Aug. 4, 2009
  
• Are We Done Yet? We're planning to be out of Iraq in 2011. Is that crazy?
  Fred Kaplan July 31, 2009
  
• They Scrapped the F-22! The remarkable vote to kill the plane and what it means for America's military future.
  Fred Kaplan July 21, 2009
  
• So Happy Together Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been a harmonious team. So far.
  Fred Kaplan July 17, 2009
  
• Nukes Are Easy Obama's deal on weapons could win Russia's cooperation on tougher issues later.
  Fred Kaplan July 7, 2009
  
• Leaving Iraq What will happen when U.S. combat troops withdraw?
  Fred Kaplan June 26, 2009
  
• Disengagement With Iran After its fraudulent election, Obama should harden his stance with Iran.
  Fred Kaplan June 15, 2009
  
• Obama Couldn't Sway the Iranian Election Even if He Wanted To But a lot rides on what he does after the vote.
  Fred Kaplan June 11, 2009
  
• And Now for the Hard Part Obama's speech was impressive, but its impact may not be felt for a generation.
  Fred Kaplan June 4, 2009
  
• There Are Already 355 Terrorists in American Prisons The preposterous arguments against allowing Gitmo detainees into the U.S.
  Fred Kaplan May 29, 2009
  
• First, Take a Deep Breath Obama shouldn't respond too quickly, or too aggressively, to the North Korean nuclear test.
  Fred Kaplan May 26, 2009
  
• Send Him Back to the Bunker! Dick Cheney's dishonest speech about torture, terror, and Obama.
  Fred Kaplan May 21, 2009
  
• Gates vs. Congress Why do senators want to bust the budget for missile defense that doesn't work and a fighter plane we don't need?
  Fred Kaplan May 14, 2009
  
• It's Obama's War Now The ouster of Afghanistan commander David McKiernan could make—or break—the Obama presidency.
  Fred Kaplan May 11, 2009
  
• The AfPak Puzzle The good news: Obama understands what's wrong in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The bad news: He can't fix it.
  Fred Kaplan May 7, 2009
  
• Hillary Clinton, Watch These Movies! High Noon, Godfather II, Grand Illusion, and 22 other indispensable movies for understanding war and diplomacy.
  Fred Kaplan May 4, 2009
  
• Why Hasn't the Pakistani Army Defeated the Taliban Insurgents? It's too hung up on fighting India.
  Fred Kaplan April 30, 2009
  
• Handshake Diplomacy What Obama's grip and grin with Hugo Chávez says about his foreign policy.
  Fred Kaplan April 21, 2009
  
• How To Beat the Pirates Let's start by treating them like the criminals they are.
  Fred Kaplan April 15, 2009
  
• Gates Follows Through The Pentagon is finally cutting expensive weapons programs it doesn't need.
  Fred Kaplan April 6, 2009
  
• How Do You Solve a Problem Like Kim Jong-il? Stop playing his game.
  Fred Kaplan April 6, 2009
  
• The Return of Statecraft How Obama proved his mettle at the G20 summit.
  Fred Kaplan April 2, 2009
  
• Rascal Flatts The kings of Midwestern prom rock.
  Jody Rosen April 1, 2009
  
• Prince's New Album A new protégé and a lot of love for Salma Hayek.
  Jody Rosen March 31, 2009
  
• Counterinsurgenterrorism Obama's new policy for Afghanistan tries to steer a middle course.
  Fred Kaplan March 27, 2009
  
• CT or COIN? Obama must choose this week between two radically different Afghanistan policies.
  Fred Kaplan March 24, 2009
  
• Don't Be Afraid To Kill the F-22 Why Pentagon program cuts won't necessarily bring job cuts.
  Fred Kaplan March 19, 2009
  
• Intelligence Failure Winners and losers in the knock-down fight over Charles Freeman's aborted appointment.
  Fred Kaplan March 11, 2009
  
• Obama to America: The Iraq War Is Over Now we have to hope the Iraqis can hold things together.
  Fred Kaplan Feb. 28, 2009
  
• The New Pentagon Budget—So New? Obama plans to spend as much on defense as Bush did.
  Fred Kaplan Feb. 27, 2009
  
• Aerial Combat The Air Force tries to save a fighter plane that's never seen battle.
  Fred Kaplan Feb. 25, 2009
  
• The Pakistan Problem Will Pakistan's instability make the Afghan war unwinnable?
  Fred Kaplan Feb. 18, 2009
  
• The Two Reagans Which version of the Gipper would Republicans like Obama to emulate?
  Fred Kaplan Feb. 13, 2009
  
• What Are We Doing in Afghanistan? We're still figuring that out.
  Fred Kaplan Feb. 5, 2009
  
• PowerPoint to the People The urgent need to fix federal archiving policies.
  Fred Kaplan Jan. 29, 2009
  
• A Presumption of Disclosure Obama revives the Freedom of Information Act.
  Fred Kaplan Jan. 23, 2009
  
• Forget FDR and Lincoln; Obama Is Most Like JFK It's not just their biographies—it's also the tenor of their times.
  Fred Kaplan Jan. 16, 2009
  
• A Return to Professionalism What Obama's Pentagon hires say about his presidential style.
  Fred Kaplan Jan. 8, 2009
  
• Why Obama Picked Panetta To Run the CIA He's clean, he knows where the line items are buried, and the director isn't the chief spook anymore.
  Fred Kaplan Jan. 6, 2009