Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

National Security Resolutions for 2009

The United States should resolve to help make the world a better place with initiatives that keep Americans safe, free, and prosperous in the coming year. Here is a short list of commitments Washington can offer.

Indonesian President's Praise of Natsir Raises Questions

Indonesian President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono designated M. Natsir a national hero with a speech in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. But what did the president intend by conferring essentially favored son status on this very learned—and by all accounts polite and unassuming—Islamist?

Building Cyber Security Leadership for the 21st Century

A cyber-strategic leadership program is necessary for constructing a resiliency strategy (methods for ensuring that basic structures of global, national, and local economies remain strong after a cyber attack, other malicious acts, or disasters) for the 21st century. Cyber-strategic leadership is a set of knowledge, skills, and attributes essential to all leaders at all levels of government and the private sector.

Fixing Border Security and Immigration: A Memo to President-elect Obama

President-elect Obama, we applaud your commitment to secure our nation's borders, but securing our borders is simply one step toward protecting America and fixing our broken immigration system.

The Quadrennial Homeland Security Review: A Vital Tool for the Obama Administration

The Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) will occur for the first time next year and is a valuable tool to ease the transition from one Administration to the next because it informs a new Administration on the right course for homeland security. The new Administration should not undertake major changes in homeland security policy until the QHSR process is complete.

No More Waffling on Missile Defense

The president-elect and the Star Wars president share some common ideas. Both have blanched at the nightmare of America held hostage by the threat of tens or hundreds of thousands of Americans dead from nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. And both have been morally repulsed by the notion of protecting our nation by threatening to bury an entire enemy population under a forest of mushroom clouds. There has to be a better way.

How to prevent terrorists from using weapons of mass destruction

Seven years after 9/11, we were en route to Pakistan when a bomb blast destroyed the Marriott Hotel there.

Outside View: Iran talks trap

There is no guaranteed policy that can halt the Iranian nuclear program short of war, and even a military campaign may only delay Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons capability. But U.S. policymaking regarding the Iranian nuclear issue inevitably boils down to a search for the least-bad option, and as potentially costly and risky as a preventive war against Iran would be, allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons could result in far heavier costs and risks.

Obama and the case for missile defense

A "kill vehicle" hurtled over the Pacific Ocean to intercept and blow up a missile 1,800 miles and 25 minutes into its flight from Alaska to California.

Don't Count On Economy To Stop Illegal Immigration

They are leaving. Illegal immigrants, that is. Analysts from both ends of the immigration debate, from the Center for Immigration Studies to the Pew Hispanic Center, agree. The "unlawfully present" population in the United States has shrunk — and it's getting smaller.

• A Political Idea That Won't Go Away: Implications of Moral Law for America's Founding and Future
• Vital Triangle: The Shifting Dynamics of the Saudi-U.S.-Sino Relationship
• Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy: Developing a Vision for Civil Rights in the Twenty-First Century

• Making REAL ID Real: Implementing National Standards
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• Real Immigration Reform: A Roadmap for Demonstrating Presidential Credibility on One of America's Most Important Issues
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• Moving Forward on Visa Waiver Reform
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• Technology Leadership, Economic Power and National Security: Dual-Use Export Controls to China
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• See No Danger? Hear No Danger? Congress Missing in Action!
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• Recruiting for the Long War: Has Military Recruiting Reached its Efficient Frontier?
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• Protecting and Dominating the Cyberspace Domain
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• Real Solutions for Challenges on the Mexico-US Border: The Mérida Initiative
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• Civil Rights and the War on Terror: Promoting Accountability and National Security
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• Homeland Security and Inspecting Shipping Containers: Debating the Way Forward
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