Atlantic Council blogs

Why Is Osama bin Laden Going After the French?

By Andrew Lebovich, Foreign Policy

From Andrew Lebovich, Foreign Policy:  Yesterday, in an audio recording released to Qatar-based news station Al Jazeera, al Qaeda Central leader Osama bin Laden for the first time singled out France as a target of attack

NATO chief pledges to uphold Afghan women’s rights

By Reuters

From Reuters:  NATO will support a political deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban only if it respects the constitutional rights of women, the alliance’s secretary-general said on Friday. "The Afghan government is trying hard to engage with those Taliban who are willing to stop fighting," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a […]

NATO lives!

By Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy

From Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy:  [I]t was clear that the class was strongly disposed to favor NATO’s continued existence even before the discussion began, and that view strengthened the more they talked and listened. I’d attribute this result to several rather obvious factors

US and Turkey clash looms over Nato

By the Financial Times

From the Financial Times:   The US and Turkey are trying to stave off a clash at next month’s Nato summit after a year in which Ankara’s traditional ties to the west were strained.

Cybered Conflict as a New Frontier

By Chris Demchak

Understanding basic cybered conflict begins first with two critical adages for the cyberspace user at any organizational scale: ‘user beware’ and ‘user prepare’.  First, if you or your organization are digitally connected to others to obtain something critical to the ability to operate, neither of you can sensibly fully trust anything reachable from that connect, […]

U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Again Tested by Nuclear Issue

By Ronak Desai

With President Obama scheduled to visit India in early November, officials in New Delhi are working with Washington to ease American concerns over nuclear liability legislation recently enacted by the Indian parliament that effectively precludes nuclear commerce between the United States and India. Formally entitled, “Civil Liability for the Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010,” passage of […]

NATO’s Afghan endgame begins with a helping hand from Russia

By the Independent

Raytheon chooses Turkey’s Aselsan as key Patriot supplier

By Umit Enginsoy, Hurriyet

From Umit Enginsoy, Hurriyet:  U.S. missile maker Raytheon has entered into an agreement with Turkey’s top military electronics manufacturer, Aselsan, for the co-development of a major end item for the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System, the U.S. firm has said. Under the agreement, Raytheon will subcontract to Aselsan the co-development of the antenna mast […]

Minister: French troops may withdraw from Afghanistan in 2011

By CNN

From CNN:  France and some other NATO nations may begin to withdraw some troops from Afghanistan next year — but the move is not tied to a threat issued against the country supposedly by Osama bin Laden, the country’s defense minister said Thursday. Minister Herve Morin told French radio station RTL that France will begin […]

NATO Losing in Afghanistan

By James Joyner

 In a much-cited January 2008 report, the Atlantic Council warned, "Make no mistake, the international community is not winning in Afghanistan. Unless this reality is understood and action is taken promptly, the future of Afghanistan is bleak, with regional and global impact."