Atlantic Council blogs

Gates: NATO a Two-Tiered Alliance with a Dim, Dismal Future

By James Joyner

Rumors that Robert Gates would deliver a provocative farewell to the European allies were well founded. Going further than he had to date, he bluntly warned that NATO has become a two-tiered Alliance and said it faces a "dim, if not dismal" future. Gates has been displaying increasing frustration with the European Allies and pointedly criticized Germany, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and […]

Update: NATO activities in Libya on June 9

By NATO

Protecting Humanitarian Interests in Cyber Conflict

By Jason Healey

Recently, the EastWest Institute held a conference that, among other topics, considered possible “markers” for cyber warfare.   As they described the potential problem, “The Geneva and Hague Conventions direct that protected entities, protected personnel and protected assets [such as doctors, ambulances, or hospitals] be marked in a clearly visible and distinctive way [e.g., with a […]

NATO Revises Cyber Defense Policy

By hostexploit.com

From hostexploit.com:  It was announced on Wednesday that NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, June 8-9, adopted a revised NATO Policy on Cyber Defense with further details of the next steps released today.

Tribute to Ron Asmus: Remembering an Architect of a Europe Whole and Free

By Damon Wilson

Today in Wroclaw, Poland, the Atlantic Council will posthumously award Ron Asmus its annual Freedom Award for his contribution to building a Europe whole, free and at peace. Many U.S. leaders played a critical role in advancing this vision and giving the United States a defining role in post-Cold War Europe. President George H.W. Bush, President Bill […]

Gates praises some allies with limited resources for making smart defense choices

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

From Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service:  “I am the latest in a string of U.S. defense secretaries who have urged allies privately and publicly, often with exasperation, to meet agreed-upon NATO benchmarks for defense spending,” Gates said.

Gates: NATO Has Become Two-tiered Alliance

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

From Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service: NATO has turned into a two-tiered alliance of members who consume security and those who produce it, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.

Gates blasts NATO, questions future of alliance

By Robert Burns, the AP

From Robert Burns, the AP:  America’s military alliance with Europe — the cornerstone of U.S. security policy for six decades — faces a "dim, if not dismal" future, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday in a blunt valedictory address.

Political Gridlock at NATO

By Con Coughling, the Wall Street Journal

From Con Coughling, the Wall Street Journal:  Many European powers, such as Germany, insist the NATO mission should be confined to the humanitarian objectives set out in U.N. resolution 1973, namely to protect innocent civilians and establish a cease-fire.