Atlantic Council blogs

Death of Transatlantic Relationship Wildly Exaggerated

By James Joyner

The blistering farewell speech to NATO by U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates warning of a "dim, if not dismal" future for the Alliance drew the Western public’s attention to a longstanding debate about the state of the transatlantic relationship. With prominent commenters voicing concern about much more than just a two-tiered defensive alliance, questioning whether […]

Gates to NATO: Drop dead?

By Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy

From Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy:  NATO has been on borrowed time ever since the Soviet Union collapsed, because military alliances form primarily to deal with external threats and they are hard to hold together once the threat is gone.

Russian submarine mates with U.S. sub rescue system in NATO Exercise

By Allied Command Operations

Bob Gates’s sermon to Europe applies at home as well

By the Editors of the Washington Post

From the Editors of the Washington Post:  [Secretary of Defense Robert] Gates rightly blamed European governments for being “apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense.

Update: NATO activities in Libya on June 13

By NATO

BAE Systems pulls out of Polish defense tender

By Gabriela Baczynska, Reuters

From Gabriela Baczynska, Reuters:  Europe’s biggest defence contractor BAE Systems (BAES.L) has pulled out of the race for a 1.45 billion zloty ($530.5 million) contract to supply Poland with 16 training-combat aircraft, the company said on Tuesday.

Is the U.S.-European Relationship Really in Decline?

By James Joyner, the Atlantic

From James Joyner, the Atlantic:  The blistering farewell speech to NATO by U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates warning of a "dim, if not dismal" future for the Alliance drew the Western public’s attention to a longstanding debate about the state of the transatlantic relationship.

Head of Britain’s Navy warns of cutbacks if Libya Op lasts long

By Danica Kirka, AP

U.S. signs agreement to station F-16s and military personnel in Poland

By Reuters

From Reuters:  NATO allies Poland and the United States signed a deal on Monday for the stationing of U.S. airforce personnel on Polish soil, a symbolically important move for Warsaw as it keeps a nervous eye on neighbouring Russia. The accord, endorsed by U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Warsaw late last month, […]