Atlantic Council blogs

Arab Spring’s Somber Warning

By Harlan Ullman

This column has forecast how the Arab Spring could too easily metastasize when or if the powerful causal forces of great public discontent aren’t dispersed or reliever.  What is interesting is to speculate whether the power of discontent could spread and not merely within the region. What is happening in Europe and in the United […]

Obama’s opportunity to promote “a Europe whole, free, and at peace”

By Kurt Volker, Ivan Vejvoda, and Damon Wilson, the New Atlanticist

From Kurt Volker, Ivan Vejvoda, and Damon Wilson, the New Atlanticist:  [Barack Obama’s presidency] will be the first administration since President Clinton’s first term that has not seen NATO invite new members to join the Alliance. And it will take the EU at least five years to bring in new members following Croatia’s likely accession […]

Obama’s Crucial Moment in Poland

By Kurt Volker Vejvoda Damon Wilson

President Obama’s visit to Europe this week is giving him the opportunity to bury once and for all perceptions that have dogged his administration from the outset: that the US has lost interest in Europe, and has put a higher priority on resetting relations with an authoritarian Russia than it has on the completion of […]

Medvedev: Agreement on European missile shield may not occur until 2020

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that it could take Russia and the United States until 2020 to reach agreement on a European missile shield, but the two sides must create the foundations for a deal now. "This issue will be solved in the future, maybe in 2020, but we should […]

Update: NATO activities in Libya on May 25

By NATO

Ratko Mladic Arrest Paves Way for Serbia EU Accession

By James Joyner

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general blamed for the massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica, has been caught after 16 years on the run from a UN war crimes indictment. Serbian President Boris Tadic announced the arrest this morning, proclaiming "All war criminals must face justice" and promising speedy extradition to The Hague for […]

Resetting the Transatlantic Partnership

By James Joyner

 While President Obama has had some amusing gaffes on his trip to London, including getting the year wrong in the guest book and an awkward toast to the Queen, his speech to Parliament  hit all the right notes. He began with some humor: I am told that the last three speakers here have been the Pope, Her […]

Are US caveats in Libya operation prolonging the conflict?

By the Editors of the Washington Post

From the Editors of the Washington Post:  Each time he addresses the war in Libya, President Obama seems to contradict himself.

Obama’s Libya policy challenged as violation of War Powers Act

By Charlie Savage, the New York Times

From Charlie Savage, the New York Times:  At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, several members attacked Mr. Obama for failing to withdraw United States military forces from conflict after the expiration of a 60-day deadline

Sarkozy and Medvedev “reached a definitive agreement” on Mistral purchase

By Reuters

From Reuters:  Russia and France have reached a long-awaited agreement on a Russian purchase of four Mistral class helicopter carriers made by a French-led consortium, the two countries’ presidents said on Thursday. The deal, Moscow’s first major foreign arms purchase since the fall of the Soviet Union, is driven by its need to modernise its […]