Atlantic Council blogs

NATO extends Libya operation for another 90 days

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  NATO and partners have just decided to extend our mission for Libya [Operation Unified Protector] for another 90 days. This decision sends a clear message to the Qadhafi regime: We are determined to continue our operation to protect the people of Libya. We will sustain our efforts to fulfil the United […]

Election in Turkey will have an impact across the Middle East

By Anthony Shadid, the New York Times

From Anthony Shadid, the New York Times:  As Turkey heads to an election on June 12 — the size of Mr. [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s majority the only question — the country faces an Arab Spring, which took it by surprise

Berlin 1961: The East German Refugee Who Became a Beauty Queen

By Frederick Kempe

She was East German leader Walter Ulbricht’s ultimate humiliation in a year when a hemorrhage of refugees was threatening the existence of his Communist state.  As Ulbricht maneuvered behind the scenes to win Soviet approval to close his Berlin border, one of his refugees was strutting down the catwalk of a Miami Beach stage in […]

NATO and the Arab Spring

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the International Herald Tribune

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the International Herald Tribune:  The dramatic developments across North Africa and the Middle East remind me of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

Pentagon now has list of cyber-weapons to defend US in computer warfare

By Ellen Nakashima, the Washington Post

From Ellen Nakashima, the Washington Post:  The Pentagon has developed a list of cyber-weapons and -tools, including viruses that can sabotage an adversary’s critical networks, to streamline how the United States engages in computer warfare.

Pakistan Has a Mountain to Climb

By Shuja Nawaz

In an interview with Ullekh NP of The Economic Times, Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center Director Shuja Nawaz warns that attacks on soft targets are going to rise rapidly in the subcontinent.

Update: NATO activities in Libya on May 30

By NATO

Pentagon warns that destructive cyber attacks may prompt military retaliation

By Siobhan Gorman and Julian E. Barnes, the Wall Street Journal

From Siobhan Gorman and Julian E. Barnes, the Wall Street Journal:  The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S. to respond using traditional military force.

NATO SecGen urges US to stick to current Afghan strategy

By James Blitz, the Financial Times

From James Blitz, the Financial Times:  The US must stick to its broad counter insurgency strategy in Afghanistan and reject calls for a narrower focus under which Washington would significantly reduce troop numbers, Nato’s senior diplomat has warned. In the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden, some US politicians have argued that Washington […]