Atlantic Council blogs

NATO says Poland must finish job in Afghanistan

By Anna Ringstrom, Reuters

Globalization Gone Too Far? The Dilemma Facing Women’s Tennis

By Scott Bleiweis

Tennis’s fourth and final grand slam event of the year, the U.S. Open, gets underway this week in New York City. The diversity of the women’s field is a case study in how globalization has infiltrated the world of sports, creating reality that few could have foreseen a generation ago. In order to adapt, the […]

Pentagon’s Greatest Threat

By Harlan Ullman

Let us be blunt. The U.S. Department of Defense and the entire federal government face a fiscal crisis far worse than any threat posed by al-Qaida, Iran or North Korea. Barring another Sept. 11th shock to the system, the massive debt and deficits will force defense budgets to shrink dramatically. Sadly, the U.S. government may […]

The Most Significant Threat to NATO

By James Joyner

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, generated quite the buzz with his proclamation last week that, "The most significant threat to our national security is our debt."  The same could be said for the NATO alliance. Mullen explained that "ability for our country to resource our military" will be "directly proportional" […]

Fire bombs thrown at Russian embassy in Minsk

By Reuters

From Reuters:  An unknown assailant threw two fire bombs at the Russian embassy in Minsk late on Monday, in an attack that hurt nobody but destroyed an embassy car, a Belarussian Emergencies Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday. Vitaly Novitsky said the motive for the attack and the identity of the perpetrator were unknown. Belarussian Foreign […]

Putin slams West for deceiving Russia

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused western countries of using unfair political methods including deceit and breaking promises to obstruct the process of "resetting" relations between Russia and the West. In an interview in Kommersant daily, Putin said his speech at the 2007 Munich Security Conference, which several western politicians considered […]

The unraveling of central authority in Kyrgyzstan

By Andrew Higgins, the Washington Post

From Andrew Higgins, the Washington Post:  Beset by mounting casualties on the battlefield and deepening disquiet at home over America’s longest war, President Obama’s Afghan policy now faces another big headache: the unraveling of central authority in Kyrgyzstan

Determining Citizenship: Belgianization of Central Europe

By Matthew Czekaj

Romanian President Traian Basescu is on a mission to right the wrongs of Stalin, and he does not care what the Western European media have to say about it.  In a recent joint interview with Moldovan Acting President Mihai Ghimpu, Basescu affirmed that Romania has granted citizenship to 17,000 Moldovan nationals this year.

Wars of Religion

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

In his 30-year career with the FBI, Oliver "Buck" Revell dealt with all manner of transnational crime and terrorism and held numerous senior positions with the bureau. In mid-1985, he achieved the highest rank in career government service when he became the FBI director’s deputy for counter-terrorism and counterintelligence activities. All manner of awards and […]

Britain and France may share aircraft carriers

By Tim Castle and John Irish, Reuters

From Tim Castle and John Irish, Reuters:  Britain said on Tuesday it would discuss closer military cooperation with France in talks this week, but played down a report that the two countries would share aircraft carriers to save costs. Britain is building two new carriers at a cost of 5.2 billion pounds ($8.0 billion) but, […]