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Atlantic Council blogs provide short-form analyses from Council experts and a wider community of global voices on the world’s most important news stories.
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NATOSource

Apr 5, 2010

Hundreds Detained in Belgian Anti-Nuclear Protest

By AFP

From AFP:  Belgian police have detained hundreds of anti-nuclear activists protesting in and outside a military base where nuclear weapons are believed to be stored, rally organisers say. A spokesman for the protesters said 300 people demonstrated overnight near Kleine Brogel base not far from the Dutch border, while more than 800 protesters tried to […]

NATOSource

Apr 5, 2010

Defense Minister Prepares Germans for Afghan “War”

By  the AP

From the AP: Germany’s defense minister on Sunday for the first time referred to military operations in Afghanistan as a war, while he promised to investigate a friendly fire clash that left six Afghan soldiers dead. Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg broke a government taboo on the politically charged word, preparing Germans to expect more fighting by […]

NATOSource

Apr 3, 2010

Romania Defends Role in US Missile Shield

By the BBC

From the BBC: Romania insists the deal will make the region more secure. Bogdan Aurescu, the chief Romanian negotiator in the coming talks with the US on the details of Romanian participation, says it will lead to "increased security for Romania, and more security for the Black Sea region as a whole, not only for […]

United States and Canada

NATOSource

Apr 3, 2010

Ukrainian President Liquidates Linkages with NATO

By the Ukranian News Agency

From the Ukranian News Agency:  President Viktor Yanukovych has liquidated the Interdepartmental Commission for Questions of Preparing Ukraine for Joining NATO. Ukrainian News learned this from presidential decree No.496/2010 dated 2 April 2010. President Yanukovych by his presidential decree No.495/2010 dated April 2 also liquidated the National Center for Questions of EuroAtlantic Integration. Viktor Yanukovych […]

Ukraine

NATOSource

Apr 3, 2010

Russia Flexes Its Military Muscles with Western Airspace Violations

By Deutsche Welle

From Deutsche Welle: Defense analysts have been recording a steady increase in airspace violations by Russian military aircraft over the past five years after such incidents dropped off considerably at the end of the Cold War. The RAF admitted afterwards that air crews had been successfully scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft on more than 20 […]

United Kingdom

NATOSource

Apr 2, 2010

The End of Europe’s First Cold War Defense Alliance

By AFP

From AFP:  The Cold War-era Western European Union defence alliance, set up in the wake of World War II, has been dissolved, the organisation’s presidency said in a statement Wednesday. The WEU was formed by Belgium, Britain, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in 1948 and expanded to include Germany, Italy, Spain and others, but its […]

European Union International Organizations

NATOSource

Apr 2, 2010

Cameron on U.S./U.K. Ties: “Don’t Ever Think that It’s a Sort of Equal Partnership Because It Isn’t”

By the Economist

From the Economist: The Economist: The old alliance with America – what do you make of the notion that it’s over?  David Cameron: I just don’t buy that. I think that, you know, one can get into sort of definitional problems. Is there a special relationship? Yes. Is it real, tangible – does it mean […]

United Kingdom United States and Canada

NATOSource

Apr 2, 2010

NATO’s New Strategic Concept: Not an Either or Proposition

By  Andrew Michta, Center for European Policy Analysis 

From Andrew Michta, Center for European Policy Analysis :  In recent years, different security optics of the members have splintered NATO. The United States wants an expeditionary alliance with a global reach, able to deliver security where needed. The Western Europeans hold to a vision of a regional club of liberal democracies that continues to anchor America […]

Cybersecurity Energy & Environment

NATOSource

Apr 2, 2010

Russia to Make Unilateral Declaration When Signing START Treaty

By Interfax

From Interfax: Russia may withdraw from a new treaty with the U.S. on the reduction of strategic offensive weapons if the U.S. missile defense potential reaches a scale threatening Russia’s national security interests, Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said. "This provision concerns both a quantitative and qualitative increase in the U.S. strategic missile defense potential," […]

United States and Canada

NATOSource

Apr 2, 2010

Estonia’s President Sees Mistral Sale as a “Difficult Situation for Us”

By Josh Rogin, the Cable

From Josh Rogin, the Cable:  Ilves:  What we do see with a weakened transatlantic relationship is a return to a much more national agenda than you had before. … Rogin: How do you view the coming sale of the amphibious assault ship Mistral from France to Russia? Ilves: What has been said is that if […]

United States and Canada