“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years,” President Trump provocatively tweeted yesterday, adding falsely that “they have given us nothing but lies & deceit.”
A breakdown of US aid to Pakistan (excluding covert assistance) was recently provided by the Congressional Research Service. See Direct Overt U.S. Aid Appropriations for and Military Reimbursements to Pakistan, FY2002-FY2018, November 28, 2017.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Qatar: Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated December 27, 2017
Tailoring Bank Regulations: Differences in Bank Size, Activities, and Capital Levels, December 21, 2017
Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC): Structure and Activities, December 22, 2017
The Federal Tax System for the 2017 Tax Year, December 26, 2017
Five-Year Program for Federal Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing: Status and Issues in Brief, updated December 20, 2017
Basic Concepts and Technical Considerations in Educational Assessment: A Primer, December 19, 2017
CRS Products on North Korea, December 28, 2017
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.