Atlantic Council blogs

Libya Campaign Shows Need to Re-Think the Transatlantic Link

By Camille Grand, the European Institute

From Camille Grand, the European Institute:  NATO itself has looked shallow as a military alliance. The shift from Odyssey Dawn to the NATO led Unified Protector has not increased the commitment of the allies’ forces.

What is NATO for?

By Paul Miller, Shadow Government

From Paul Miller, Shadow Government:  We just need to recognize what NATO really is and what it isn’t and then calibrate our expectations appropriately.

Counterintelligence services hold international exercises in Poland

By Xinhua

From Xinhua:  Almost 200 persons from 25 NATO member states and eight world’s most important international counterintelligence organisations took part in exercises which ended in Krakow of southern Poland on Wednesday. "The exercises lasted about two weeks and several dozen top officials representing all participating institutions held a meeting Wednesday," Polish Minister of Defense Bogdan […]

Soft Power Disarmament Will All End in Tiers

By Julian Lindley-French

Leiden. The Netherlands, 16 June. America’s greatest thinker, Groucho Marks, once famously said that military intelligence is a contradiction in terms. One might say the same about European strategic intelligence. I have now just about read every single European security and defence strategy available and they all share a profound similarity. The joke goes something […]

Increasing U.S. Power in an Age of Economic Decline

By Bart Szewczyk

The Great Recession has appropriately focused America’s attention on its expected long-term economic decline relative to rising economies such as China, India, and Brazil. However, commentators have misconstrued this trend as necessarily implying a decrease in aggregate U.S. power without exploring potential strategic readjustments.

NATO chief envisions joint center for missile defense coordination with Russia

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:   Why do we want to cooperate with Russia?

Germany establishes new Cyber Defense Center

By Sebastian Fischer and Ole Reissmann, Spiegel

Update: NATO activities in Libya on June 15

By NATO

NATO’s Libya Op may soon loose its only aircraft carrier

By David Brunnstrom, Reuters

From David Brunnstrom, Reuters:  Worse looms over the horizon, with France indicating it will need in the autumn to withdraw the Libyan mission’s only aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, on virtually continuous operations since last year — with no replacement in the offing.

Obama administration to Congress: US forces not facing ‘hostilities’ in Libya

By Julie Pace, the AP

From Julie Pace, the AP:  The White House is vigorously defending President Barack Obama’s right to keep the U.S. military engaged in Libya without seeking congressional approval