National and International Security

Buying the Beretta: The Army's Dilemma (A)

Publication Date: January 01, 1988

A handgun is a soldier's weapon of last resort. Face to face with the enemy, with no other means of fighting available save their bare hands, soldiers have always reached for the handguns holstered at their sides. Since 1911 the legendary Colt ...

The Indian Ocean Negotiations

Publication Date: January 01, 1988

In June 1977, US and Soviet negotiators met in Moscow for the first round of talks on arms control in the Indian Ocean. Over the preceding decade, the growing political importance of that area had led both nations to establish a limited naval...

The Reykjavik Summit: Watershed or Washout?

Publication Date: January 01, 1988

On October 11 and 12, 1986, at Reykjavik, Iceland, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan met for the second time. The issues they intended to address--nuclear arms reductions, the future relationship of...

Lyndon Johnson and Czechoslovakia, 1968: Non-Intervention by Default?

Publication Date: January 01, 1988

The Soviet Union's 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia posed particularly awkward problems for the United States. The US had, since the Truman administration in 1949, been on record in support of governments resisting communist domination. The long...

Extradition of Mohammed Hamadei

Publication Date: January 01, 1988

On January 13, 1987, Mohammed Hamadei, a 22-year-old Lebanese man wanted in the US for his alleged role in the brutal 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, was arrested in Frankfurt by West German police. Within hours, the US formally requested that...

Achille Lauro Hijacking (B)

Publication Date: January 1, 1988

When the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked in October of 1985, the repercussions were wide, but reactions of individual governments varied. The hijacking, in which an American vacationer was murdered, an Italian crew held hostage...

Achille Lauro Hijacking (A)

Publication Date: January 1, 1988

When the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked in October of 1985, the repercussions were wide, but reactions of individual governments varied. The hijacking, in which an American vacationer was murdered, an Italian crew held hostage...

Fall of the Shah of Iran

Publication Date: January 01, 1988

In the first months of 1979, the Shah of Iran-on whom successive American administrations had relied as a pillar of strength in a strategic and turbulent region-fell from power. Less than a year earlier, no analyst, inside or outside government,...

Mess and Maintenance at Marine Boot Camp: Epilogue

Publication Date: January 01, 1987

For the US Marine Corps and the other military services, the mid-to-late 1970s was a time of serious budgetary constraints. Anti-military sentiment was running high in the wake of the Vietnam War and President Carter had been swept into office...

Mess and Maintenance at Marine Boot Camp

Publication Date: January 01, 1987

For the US Marine Corps and the other military services, the mid-to-late 1970s was a time of serious budgetary constraints. Anti-military sentiment was running high in the wake of the Vietnam War and President Carter had been swept into office...

Air Force and Remotely Piloted Vehicles

Publication Date: January 01, 1987

This case examines US Air Force attitudes toward the development and procurement of airplanes that fly without pilots, otherwise known as remotely piloted vehicles or RPVs. Specifically, the case describes the Pave Tiger and Seek Spinner RPVs,...

Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle & Off-the Shelf-Procurement

Publication Date: January 01, 1987

One of the explanations often given for the high cost of military hardware is the fact that many items of military equipment are built in such small quantities that the Armed Forces do not benefit from the economies of scale that keep prices...