As published in the Huffington Post

Here's something you don't hear every day--a Secretary of Defense talking about reducing military spending. Yet Secretary Robert Gates has recently discussed the possibility of eliminating some weapons systems, command structures and other items which are no longer necessary for national security.

According to Miriam Pemberton, a principle author of a newly released report on our nation's security budget, Gates has proposed to "mount the most serious effort to restrain his own budget of any Defense Secretary since the post-Cold War period." Whether these plans are aspirational or will actually be achieved is another story.

A lecture on world opinion towards the United States in its transition to the Obama era was led by Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org and Randa Slim of the United States Institute for Peace on July 7.  Mr. Kull opened the meeting with a series of graphs which depicted the attitudes of numerous key nations regarding the U.S.  The graphs showed that throughout most of the world, there has been an overall improvement in opinion towards the United States since President Obama took office.  However, Mr.

Every generation has its cross to bear. Those born at the turn of the 20th century survived two world wars. Baby boomers practiced hiding under their school desks in case of a nuclear attack during the peak of the Cold War. While I consider bad hairstyles and horrendous wardrobes the downfall of the 80s, most would probably point to the emerging popularity and complexity of technological devices. Our current generation has two vital challenges that now lay before us: ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons and stopping global warming.