U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has warned against getting involved in future land wars in Asia (Thom Shanker, “Gates Warns Against Any More Wars Like Iraq or Afghanistan,” New York Times, 25 February 2011): Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates bluntly told an audience of West Point cadets on Friday that it would be unwise […]
Tag Archives: Robert Gates
U.S. urges Canada to stick with F-35
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is urging the Canadian government to move ahead with its planned purchase of 65 American F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
Communist Chinese threaten Vietnam
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is visiting Vietnam to discuss how to respond to the actions of an “increasingly assertive China” in the region (Thom Shanker, “In Vietnam, Gates Faces Balancing Act With Assertive China,” New York Times, 10 October 2010): Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates landed on Sunday in Vietnam, where the narrative of […]
U.S. and global military spending
The U.S. military budget comprises over 44 percent of the entire world’s military spending, reports the Washington-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (Laicie Olson, “U.S. vs. Global Defense Spending,” 21 May 2010). The Center calculates that worldwide military spending totalled US$1.57 trillion in 2008, the latest year for which global numbers are available, and […]
Gates: "Pacification" of Europe threatens security
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has condemned the “pacification” of Europe. Speaking to a meeting of NATO officials and security experts, Gates declared that “The demilitarisation of Europe, where large swaths of the general public and political class are averse to military force and the risks that go with it, has gone from a blessing […]
Pentagon requests record $708 billion budget
The Obama administration on Monday requested Congressional approval for a record $708 billion in military spending for fiscal year 2011. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stressed the need for the Pentagon to prepare for a broader range of approaching security challenges while continuing to fund two ongoing wars and also expanding operations in Yemen and Somalia, where […]