1.  More to Missile Shield Decision Than Appeasement

The White House announced Thursday that it would cancel the previous administration's plans to construct NATO "missile shield" stations in the Czech Republic and Poland. Republicans were quick to lambast the decision as mere appeasement of Russia and Iran, but the move signals a foreign policy more nuanced than critics assume, Marc Ambinder writes at the Atlantic. The initial shield plans were based on the "zero sum" assumptions of President Bush's foreign policy: "empower NATO at the expense of Russia and convey a message to Iran that the U.S. was serious about protecting its allies from their developing threat," Ambinder writes. But President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates saw the shield differently: It strained relations with Poland and the Czech Republic, overestimated Iran's long-range missile capabilities, and stalled more important negotiations with Russia. In any case, Europe isn't any less safe now, according to Ambinder: The technology was unproven, and the move frees up money to defend against more imminent threats and build a more capable missile defense technology for the region.

Read original story in The Atlantic | Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009