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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

Sep 20, 2011

What Comes After ‘Europe’?

By Bret Stephens, the Wall Street Journal

From Bret Stephens, the Wall Street Journal:  The hardest fact on which postwar Europe was founded was military necessity, crisply summed up by Lord Ismay’s famous line that NATO’s mission was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down."

Economy & Business European Union

NATOSource

Sep 20, 2011

Gaddafi “mercenary” claim turns spotlight on role of special forces in Libya

By David Brunnstrom and Giles Elgood,  Reuters

From David Brunnstrom and Giles Elgood,  Reuters:  A boast by Gaddafi loyalists that they had captured 17 foreign mercenaries this week has been greeted with skepticism, but the claim has highlighted the importance of covert military operations in the overthrow of the Libyan leader.

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Sep 20, 2011

US in a Bind Over Palestine’s Bid for UN Recognition

By Barbara Slavin

The Palestinian drive for statehood status at the United Nations injects new uncertainty into an already volatile Middle East, threatening to further isolate Israel and diminish already dwindling U.S. influence in the region. Barring some last-minute breakthrough that would revive negotiations or otherwise advance their national aspirations, Palestinian officials appear bent on seeking, at a […]

International Organizations Middle East

NATOSource

Sep 19, 2011

Israel denies Turkey’s veto over new relationship with NATO

By Yaakov Katz, the Jerusalem Post

From Yaakov Katz, the Jerusalem Post: The possibility of opening an Israeli mission at NATO headquarters in Brussels is still “on the table” government officials said on Monday in response to Turkish claims that Ankara had succeeded in vetoing the initiative.

NATOSource

Sep 19, 2011

Update: NATO activities in Libya on September 18

By NATO

NATOSource

Sep 19, 2011

Europe’s takeaway from Libya: “”Will the U.S. keep bailing us out?”

By the Wall Street Journal

From the Wall Street Journal: At the start, the U.S. led the military charge. America flew well over half the aerial raids—1,320 sorties in total—in the first two weeks after the U.N. Security Council voted in March to authorize the mission.

United Kingdom United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2011

What Palestine’s UN Bid Means for Middle East Peace

By Hugh De Santis

The Palestinian bid for statehood at this week’s United Nations General Assembly meeting could well trigger the perfect storm in the Middle East. As if the tempestuous relations between Israel and the Palestinians needed added turbulence, Turkey has entered the fray as the defender of the Palestinians and aspiring leader of the Arab-Islamic world. Increasingly marginalized in […]

International Organizations Middle East

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2011

A Transatlantic Weakness to Avoid

By Carles Castello-Catchot

The transatlantic community is weaker and more divided than it has been in a century, sending shockwaves through a world accustomed to seeing the US and the EU lead by example on a global scale.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2011

Afghanistan Now a Pointless War?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

We should have declared the Afghan war won last May 3, the day after a U.S. SEAL team killed Osama bin Laden and buried him in the Arabian Sea. That was the advice given in Washington last week by a former spy chief who played a key role in the Saudi-Pakistan-U.S. alliance that defeated the […]

Afghanistan

NATOSource

Sep 19, 2011

Turkey blocking Israel from opening office in NATO

By Zaman