PRESS ROOM

The Obama administration should think twice before ramping up assistance to Nigeria’s security forces. Increasing military aid to an unreliable partner can often do more harm than good. Given its history of corruption and human rights abuses, it is extremely unlikely that the Nigerian military can make effective use of additional American aid... READ MORE »

Negotiators from the United States and Cuba met in Washington last week to finalize an agreement on re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. When they adjourned on May 22, they were so close to final agreement that Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, the chief U.S. negotiator, said another round of talks would probably not even be necessary. In a matter of weeks, it is likely that the American flag will be flying over our old embassy building in Havana... READ MORE »

U.S. defense contractors are popping corks as Obama “reassures” his Middle East allies with billions of dollars of weapons... READ MORE »

Ever since the Budget Control Act of 2011 placed caps on the Pentagon's base budget, Congress and the Obama administration have been using creative accounting to evade them. But this year's House Armed Services Committee (HASC) version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) set a new standard for budget gimmickry... READ MORE »

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released its annual assessment of the global arms trade, and the United States once again has the dubious distinction on coming in at the number-one spot. For the period covering 2010 to 2014, the U.S. accounted for 31 percent of global arms sales, followed by Russia at 27 percent. The next largest exporters — China, (5%), France (5%), Germany (5%) and the United Kingdom (4%) — lagged far behind... READ MORE »

Isn’t it time to recognize the “existential” importance of Ukraine to Russia to prevent a worsening of the crisis and to assure continued cooperation in the arms control arena as well as conflicts in the third world... READ MORE »

Nearly four years after budget caps imposed by Congress began to modestly rein in runaway spending at the Pentagon, the sky hasn't fallen. In fact, none of the dire predictions of Pentagon contractors - from mass layoffs to a collapse of the U.S. military - have come true. Instead, weapons makers' profits have soared, employment has increased nationwide, and Congress is busily cooking up budget gimmicks to violate its own spending caps and return to record spending levels... READ MORE »

This past week, the White House attempted to repair the damage done by neglecting its Gulf Arab allies as Syria flew apart at the seams. King Salman of Saudi Arabia rebuffed President Obama's invitation to join a group of Sunni Arab leaders at Camp David, as did the King of Bahrain -- even as Washington reasserted its security guarantees and announced new military sales to both countries... READ MORE »

CIP joins over 20 other organizations in support of an end to the inhumane and damaging aerial spraying program in Colombia... READ MORE »

The forced resignation of DEA chief Michele Leonhart is a step in the right direction toward cleaning up one of the most wasteful and ethically questionable agencies of the federal government, the Drug Enforcement Administration. Now it's time for Congress to take the next step -- a full and facts-based review of the agency to eliminate the deep flaws that gave rise to the scandal... READ MORE »

A reduction of tensions in the Middle East could be bad news for Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest arms-producing corporation... READ MORE »

As Yemen remains embroiled in conflict, the US policy to build partner capacity is being challenged. The United States cannot stop foreign countries from conducting their own foreign policy, even those receiving U.S. weapons. The airstrikes have killed innocent civilians and further destabilized a country, heightened the regional proxy war and strengthened AQAP’s hand. No easy solution exists in Yemen. However, as Operation Decisive Storm is demonstrating, building partner capacity can potentially cause as many problems as it hoped to eliminate... READ MORE »