Atlantic Council blogs

Georgia to eventually become NATO member – Rasmussen

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Georgia will eventually become a member of NATO, the military alliance’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said on Friday in Tbilisi.

Bin Laden involved in Europe attack plot: report

By AFP

From AFP:  Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is involved in an unfolding plot to launch attacks on European cities and may have even targeted the United States, a radio report said. Several months ago, bin Laden sent a directive to Al-Qaeda affiliates and partners that he wanted a Mumbai-style attack on at least three European […]

The Outlook for Unconventional Gas in Eurasia: Resources and Policies

By Boyko Nitzov

In a keynote speech before the Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum in Istanbul, Ambassador Richard Morningstar, the U.S. Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, reflected on how much has changed about Eurasian energy issues since his work in the Clinton Administration. “On the supply side, shale gas and other developments could emerge as real game […]

Instant Diplomacy

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Along with instant coffee, instant soup, instant oven cleaners, instant Viagra, instant pain relief from four-hour Viagra, it was only a matter of time before instant diplomacy made its debut on the nation’s comedy channels. Some foreign leaders have concluded American youth — and many older Americans, too — have tuned out serious news and […]

Nuclear issue exposes rift in NATO strategy review

By Judy Dempsey, the New York Times

From Judy Dempsey, the New York Times:  Two months before what could be the most important NATO summit meeting in more than a decade, the 28 member states of the alliance have received a draft of its new strategic concept, which for the first time, at the insistence of Germany and other countries, includes calls […]

U.S. questions Turkey’s military exercise with China

By Zaman

Pakistan Blocks NATO Supply Lines, Testing Fragile Relationship

By James Joyner

Pakistan has blocked NATO’s primary supply line into Afghanistan in retaliation for an air strike that killed three Pakistani paramilitaries. Reporting for FT, Farhan Bokhari notes that this will not have an immediate impact on operations but would if the embargo held for long, since "Most of the fuel, food and building materials for the […]

5 Questions for Kori Schake

By Jorge Benitez

Kori Schake is the former Director for Defense Strategy and Requirements at the National Security Council.  She is currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and an associate professor of international security studies at the United States Military Academy.  I had the opportunity to discuss her thoughts on some key issues of interest to […]

CYBERCOM won’t be fully operational by Friday deadline

By Stars and Stripes

From Stars and Stripes:  U.S. Cyber Command will not be fully operational by Friday’s deadline, military officials revealed Wednesday. “I don’t know that the 1 October deadline is holding strong and fast,” Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Rene White said. Perhaps the biggest issue is defining what it means to be fully operational. “That’s a good […]