What was the top national security story in 2011?
CBS News national security correspondent Bob Orr and senior national security analyst Juan Zarate counted down the top foreign policy stories of 2011 in a year-end edition of their CBSNews.com series "Flash Points."
In part one of two, Zarate discussed the Arab Spring, the killing of Osama bin Laden and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The reality is the plates have shifted in the Middle East, particularly in the Arab world. The old autocratic rulers, the old autocratic ways of thinking are gone," Zarate said.
The death of Osama bin Laden just before the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 was clearly a victory for President Obama and the U.S. in the war against terror.
Orr pointed out, "That also was an important touch stone for U.S.-Pakistani relations because what this involved was a U.S. commando team going into a sovereign nation, and taking out bin Laden, and that was kind of like the beginning of a series of problems."
While the war in Iraq comes to a close, Zarate said the questions of whether the U.S. won the war and whether the sacrifice was worth it still loom.
"Those questions moving into 2012 will be very important," Zarate said. "It's one thing to say we've closed up shop militarily, we've met the timetable President Bush signed and President Obama has fulfilled his campaign promise, but what comes next? And I think that's really a big question."
In part two of the "Flash Points" year-in-review special, Orr and Zarate discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions, the rise of China and national security threats in cyberspace.
