Mutual assured destruction

March 23, 2022 | Clifford D. May |

The death of MAD

And the urgent need to reestablish deterrence

February 24, 2022 | Nathan Picarsic, Jonathan Schanzer

Anti-China for thee but not for we

Washington has in recent years given Israel an earful about its economic ties to China. Israel has responded positively, even at the risk of inviting short-term economic harm. Recently, Israel rejected...

March 3, 2015 | |

When Iran Goes Nuclear

Our attention these days with regard to security is understandably riveted on the Islamic State, or ISIS, and its hideous decapitations, rapes and live immolations. We must deal with the...

March 12, 2014 | Clifford D. May |

Punish Putin?

Sending armed troops into a foreign country for the purpose of seizing territory is an act of war, and a line not often crossed in recent decades. But it’s what President Vladimir Putin has...

August 16, 2012 | Clifford D. May |

Obama’s Future ‘Flexibility’

What did the President promise the Kremlin and why isn’t that a topic in the campaign debate?

August 16, 2012 | Clifford D. May |

Obama’s Future ‘Flexibility’

What did the President promise the Kremlin and why isn’t that a topic in the campaign debate?

July 6, 2011 | Clifford D. May |

MAD in the 21st Century

Mutually Assured Destruction may have been a sensible policy during the Cold War. It isn’t now.

February 4, 2011 | Wall Street Journal

Three Qualities That Made Reagan Great

During my nine years in the White House, I had the good fortune to work for three presidents—Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and, for the last four, Ronald Reagan, whom I served as national secu...

December 30, 2010 | Clifford D. May Scripps Howard News Service |

After START

National security hawks lost a battle last week when 71 members of the Senate -- not all of them Democrats -- voted to ratify New START. The treaty limits America’s non-nuclear long-range w...

November 18, 2010 | |

Slow START

You don't need to be in the Tea Party to believe that members of  Congress ought to read and understand bills before signing them into  law. I think it's fair to say that in t...

April 6, 2010 | |

Obama’s Scary New Plan for Nukes

Today President Obama reversed 60 years of U.S. nuclear policy and pledged we would not retaliate with nuclear weapons were we -- or our treaty allies --- attacked with conventional, biological o...

September 17, 2009 | Clifford D. May |

Why Is Missile Defense Controversial?

Missile defense - as the term might suggest - is defensive, not offensive. Brilliant American scientists have developed sophisticated technologies to prevent missiles - including those armed with...

June 7, 2006 | World Defense Review |

Faith-Based Realpolitik

Notwithstanding that it is arguably one of the strangest documents in the annals of modern diplomacy, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent 18-page letter to President George W. Bus...

May 18, 2005 | Clifford D. May |

MAD No More; Can America’s New Enemies be Deterred?

Once upon a time, "credible deterrence" was the main pillar of America's national security strategy. The Soviet Union may have been, as President Reagan said, an “evil empire.” B...