Richard Weitz

Richard Weitz, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC. Dr. Weitz would like to thank the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for supporting his non-proliferation research.

Contact Richard Weitz

    Articles by Richard Weitz

    China’s Hypersonic Missiles: Methods and Motives

    Introduction The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is pursuing various hypersonic delivery systems to augment its already impressive arsenal of precision strike capabilities. Hypersonic missiles are emerging as a highly

    Assessing the Sino-Russian Baltic Sea Drill

    From July 21 to July 28, 2017, the Chinese and Russian navies conducted a week of joint drills in the Baltic Sea, the first of their planned two-phase bilateral maritime

    Assessing China’s Afghan Peace Play

    Breaking with decades of distancing itself from Afghanistan’s various armed conflicts, the Chinese government has offered to facilitate peace talks between the Afghan national government and the Afghan Taliban insurgency

    Russia-US Nuclear Cooperation Implodes

    Tensions between Russia and the United States, deepened by the Ukraine crisis, have now affected nuclear security cooperation—an area that had previously resisted the fallout from earlier disputes over ballistic

    Seoul Seeks Central Asian Partners

    During her week-long visit last month (June 2014) to Central Asia, South Korean President Park Geun-hye made further progress in advancing her “Eurasia Initiative,” which she announced in October 2013.

    Kazakhstan Promotes Nuclear Security Agenda at Hague Summit

    While generally trying to avoid confrontations with other countries, there are some issues on which Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev refuses to compromise—one is regional integration, another is nuclear non-proliferation. At

    Kazakhstan Responds to Ukraine Crisis

    The crisis in Ukraine has presented many challenges for Kazakhstan’s foreign policy—unwelcome comparisons between the domestic situations in both countries, growing tensions between Russia and the West, and disruptions to

    Dutch Foreign Minister Visits Kazakhstan

    On February 3, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans made his first official visit to Kazakhstan. In Astana, he met with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Speaker of the Senate of Parliament Kassym-Jomart

    Kazakhstan and El Salvador Establish Diplomatic Relations

    On February 4, 2014, Kazakhstan and El Salvador established diplomatic relations. Kazakhstan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, and his Salvadorian counterpart, Enrique Garcia Gonzalez, signed a communiqué

    Decisive Year for Kazakhstan’s Eurasian Hub Ambitions

    One priority for Kazakhstan this year is to execute the country’s first comprehensive transportation infrastructure development plan, which the government drafted in collaboration with the World Bank and adopted last

    China-US WMD Cooperation: Progress within Limits

    The Sino-American security tensions of recent years, including over WMD issues, has tended to overshadow the substantial if quiet cooperation between China and the United States in countering horizontal WMD

    Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan Envisage Wide-Ranging Cooperation

    On December 10, the Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation met in Baku. Besides discussing various economic projects to boost mutual trade and investment, ministers from the two governments considered

    Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan Economic Relations Make Progress

    On November 1, the fourth session of the Kazakhstani-Kyrgyzstani Intergovernmental Council met in Bishkek. The meeting sought to realize the agenda articulated by Kazakhstani Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov, who noted

    Eurasian Chemical Weapons Threat Persists

    In October 2013, Russian authorities reportedly thwarted a possible attack by militant extremists against the Maradykovo chemical weapons (CW) storage and elimination facility in the Middle Volga region of Kirov.

    China-U.S. Military Ties on the Upswing

    In less than two years, China-U.S. military relations have experienced a remarkable turnaround. President Xi Jinping in particular has expressed strong support for developing more military exchanges as part of

    New Chinese Thinking on Sino-U.S. Relations?

    Chinese analysts have been assessing whether recent developments, especially the presidential and U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) meetings, have affected U.S.-China relations in major ways. Their general sense is

    Caspian Arms Race Complexities

    The Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SAM) and Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) hosted a conference this month in Baku on “Cooperation in

    EDM analysts cited in Eurasia Review article

    Jamestown analysts Roger McDermott, Vladimir Socor, Pavel Felgenhauer, Georgiy Voloshin, Richard Weitz, and Dumitru Minzarari were cited in an article by Ariel Cohen in Eurasia Review.

    Richard Weitz quoted by Zawya

    Jamestown analyst Richard Weitz was quoted by Zawya in an article titled "Central Asian rail link viable oil trade route option."

    Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan Presidential Summit Boosts Joint Ties

    Turkmenistani President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov made a state visit to Kazakhstan on May 10–11. Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that his counterpart’s visit “demonstrates the mutual desire to develop these fraternal

    Almaty Hosts ‘Heart of Asia’ Conference

    On April 26, Almaty hosted the third Ministerial Conference of the Istanbul Process. Many foreign ministers attended, though some countries, such as the United States, were represented by their deputies.

    Kazakhstani-Korean Economic Partnership Strives Ahead

    Kazakhstan has become South Korea’s (also known as the Republic of Korea—ROK) main economic partner in Central Asia, and powerful complementarities exist between Astana’s desire for foreign capital and technologies,

    Kazakhstan Will Host Iran Nuclear Talks

    Iran has accepted Kazakhstan’s offer to host the next round of its nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 group (all five permanent United Nations Security Council members and Germany) (Trend, February

    Sino-Kazakh Ties on a Roll

    The construction of China’s New Eurasian Land Bridge through Central Asia has been gathering speed in recent months and looks to make even greater progress in 2013. At the end

    Kazakhstan-China Military Exchanges Continue

    Earlier this month, a delegation from the Chinese National Defense University made an official visit to Kazakhstan, marking yet another high-profile exchange between the two countries’ defense establishments. According to

    New Kazakhstan-US Energy Partnership Plan Adopted

    The latest meeting of the Kazakhstani-US Energy Partnership Commission took place in Washington on October 15–16, 2012. The two delegation heads, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Oil and Gas Sauat Mynbayev and

    China Steps Up Rhetoric against U.S. Missile Defense

    Chinese officials are becoming increasingly vocal about U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) developments in the Asia-Pacific region as well as the newly elevated U.S. security profile in their region resulting

    Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev Center Moves Into High Gear

    The Nazarbayev Center was created in January 2012 to study and promote Kazakhstan’s history of statehood—its cultural, economic, humanitarian, and political development (Interfax-Kazakhstan, January 23). The Center includes an in-house

    Beijing Doubles Down on Kim Dynasty

    Following months of confused signals regarding the relationship between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea), it now looks like their ties has weathered the

    Astana Backs Wider SCO Regional Role

    On June 6-7, 2012, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held its 12th annual summit in Beijing. The meeting’s major outputs included granting Afghanistan observer status, designating Turkey as an SCO

    Logistics and the Afghan Endgame

    The United States and its allies have undertaken a sustained effort since 2008 to develop sea, ground, and air transportation routes to Afghanistan’s north, through the territories of the former

    Azerbaijan Breaks Iranian-Linked Spy Network

    The South Caucasus has emerged as a battleground between Iran and its adversaries. Recent weeks have seen Iranian assassination attempts against Israeli diplomats in Baku and Tbilisi, a massive Israeli-Azerbaijani

    Parsing China’s Policy Toward Iran

    On November 8th, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report that said Iran appeared to be carrying out research activities “relevant to the development of a nuclear weapon”

    Balancer-in-Chief: China Assumes SCO Chair

    At the June 15 leadership summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the rotating chairmanship of the institution was transferred to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). China has been

    Beijing Confronts Japanese Nuclear Meltdown

    The nuclear crises at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in neighboring Japan that began with the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has induced the Chinese government to pause and

    China’s Nuclear Gambit

    Economic factors are clearly driving Chinese interest in strengthening their country’s underdeveloped nuclear energy sector. At present, China’s 11 operating nuclear reactors produce less than 2 percent of the country’s

    Persistent Barriers to Sino-American Military Dialogue

    Military ties between China and the United States have lagged behind their economic and political relationships throughout the Bush administration. In recent months, however, exchanges between their national security communities

    Persistent Barriers to Sino-American Military Dialogue

    Military ties between China and the United States have lagged behind their economic and political relationships throughout the Bush administration. In recent months, however, exchanges between their national security communities

    The Sino-Russian Arms Dilemma

    For over a decade, Russian military exports to China have constituted the most important dimension of the two countries’ security relationship. Since the two governments signed an agreement on military-technical

    The Sino-Russian Arms Dilemma

    For over a decade, Russian military exports to China have constituted the most important dimension of the two countries’ security relationship. Since the two governments signed an agreement on military-technical

    The Sino-Russian Arms Dilemma

    For over a decade, Russian military exports to China have constituted the most important dimension of the two countries’ security relationship. Since the two governments signed an agreement on military-technical

    Persistent Barriers to Sino-American Military Dialogue

    Military ties between China and the United States have lagged behind their economic and political relationships throughout the Bush administration. In recent months, however, exchanges between their national security communities