Atlantic Council blogs

Update: NATO activities in Libya on June 2

By NATO

Success worth paying for in Afghanistan

By Michael O’Hanlon, the Washington Post

From Michael O’Hanlon, the Washington Post:  America’s political debate has turned to government spending, debt and the country’s long-term economic health. Many rightly view the military budget as an important ingredient in any deficit-reduction plan. But some have extended this logic to the war in Afghanistan, with even administration insiders telling The Post that spending […]

The Extradition of Mladic Will Test EU Intentions Towards Serbia

By Rennie Silva

In 1987, in a harbinger of the conflict that was soon to engulf Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic was dispatched to its southern province of Kosovo to diffuse rising ethnic tensions. Fatefully pledging before a Serbian audience that “no one will ever dare to beat you again”, his words instead unleashed a wave of nationalist fervor that […]

Turkey’s Choice

By Katinka Barysch, the International Herald Tribune

From Katinka Barysch, the International Herald Tribune:  Polls have left little doubt that the AKP will win its third consecutive election in June as voters reward Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for presiding over years of economic growth

Robert Gates: Congressional moves on Libya “dangerous”

By Mike Allen, POLITICO

From Mike Allen, POLITICO:  Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, issued a statement saying: “Secretary Gates believes that for the United States, once committed to a NATO operation, to unilaterally abandon that mission would have enormous and dangerous long-term consequences.

House vote today on rival Libya resolutions

By John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman, POLITICO

From John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman, POLITICO:  House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has introduced a resolution on Libya that bars the use of any American ground troops in the North African nation

Atlantic Update 06/03/11

By HuiHui Ooi

Europe continues to battle E.Coli and Russia’s ban on EU vegetable imports. Mladic denies charges. After the Fukushima tragedy in Japan, Germany is giving up on its nuclear power plants by 2012 whereas Greece is at a 50:50 risk of defaulting according to Moody’s and recommended for another set of bailout package.

China Undercuts Sanctions on Iran

By Barbara Slavin

Since the failure of a brief effort at engaging Iran, the Obama administration has pivoted to economic pressure, piling sanction after sanction on the Islamic Republic to try to persuade it to curb a program that could give it the capacity to make nuclear weapons. Last week, the U.S. penalized seven foreign companies for selling […]

Update: NATO activities in Libya on June 1

By NATO