Atlantic Council blogs

Strategy and Technology: A Fading Lesson from European History

By Julian Lindley-French

In Memoriam. Dawn. 24 May, 2011. North Sea. Seventy years ago to the hour a fifteen inch (38cm) shell from the German fast battleship KM Bismarck entered above the aft main magazine of the British battlecruiser HMS Hood – the ‘mighty Hood’. The ensuing explosion had the force of a small atomic weapon and the […]

Tripoli hit by heaviest NATO air strikes to date

By Joseph Logan, Reuters

From Joseph Logan, Reuters:  NATO warplanes hammered Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s compound with their heaviest air strikes yet on Tuesday after the United States said Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi would "inevitably" be forced from power. The shockwave from the strikes was so powerful that plaster fell from the ceilings in a hotel where foreign reporters […]

Clinton: More NATO nations must join Libya mission

By David Stringer, the AP

From David Stringer, the AP:  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday urged more NATO nations to take an operational role in the air campaign in Libya, and defended her own country’s contribution to the mission. Speaking ahead of President Barack Obama’s scheduled two-day visit to Britain, Clinton acknowledged that additional support would […]

Britain and France sending attack helicopters to Libya

By the Telegraph

From the Telegraph:  The Daily Telegraph has learned that Apache helicopters will fly into Libya from a Royal Navy warship, in a joint operation with the French.

Arab Spring, Act II

By Temuri Yakobashvili

The fighting in Libya and deadly protests in Syria rage on. But the enduring legacy of the Arab Spring will be forged after the battles have ended, as liberated lands like Tunisia confront the task of building stable, democratic societies. Seen in light of the experiences of Afghanistan and Iraq over the past decade, this […]

Update: NATO activities in Libya on May 21

By NATO

US and Britain to start joint security council

By Julie Pace, the AP

From Julie Pace, the AP:  President Barack Obama will announce the formation of a new joint U.S.-British national security council when he visits London this week. The White House said the National Security Strategy Board would allow the two countries to work more closely together and share intelligence on long-term security challenges, particularly in the […]

NATO to deploy helicopters in Libya: French source

By John Irish and Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

From John Irish and Mohammed Abbas, Reuters:  NATO plans to use attack helicopters in Libya to help break a military stalemate with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, a French diplomatic source said on Monday.

British end military mission in Iraq

By Lara Jakes, the AP

From Lara Jakes, the AP:  The last of Britain’s military forces in Iraq pulled up anchor Sunday, ending more than eight years of fighting militants and training security forces since invading in 2003. Eighty-one Royal Navy sailors turned over the task of patrolling waters off the southern port city of Umm Qasr on the Persian […]

How much is each NATO country contributing to operations in Libya?

By Simon Rogers, the Guardian