New Atlanticist

Three Ticking Time Bombs at the Pentagon

By Harlan Ullman

To most observers, irrespective of “sequestration” that would remove an additional $500 billion from defense spending over the next decade, the most dangerous of ticking time bombs at the Pentagon is budgetary.

Thinking About BRAC – Backwards

By Aaron Burgstein

With the looming “fiscal cliff” and a sense that austerity is necessary if the United States is to get its economic house in order, major cuts to the Defense budget are inevitable. As we try to figure out how to smartly save money, one area seems overlooked: consolidating bases and facilities to eliminate duplication and improve efficiency.

It’s the Strategic Cliff, Stupid

By Harlan Ullman

Is this July 1929, with financial Armageddon lurking around the corner? Or is this “fiscal cliff,” when tax hikes and spending cuts converge with potentially catastrophic economic results, merely a speed bump and warning that can be carefully negotiated over the coming months rather than on a crash basis? Or are we missing something much […]

Law of the Sea Tribunal Ruling Muddies the Waters Not Just for Ghana

By Peter Pham

Two months ago, Ghana  struck a blow for both the rule of law and fiscal probity when it detained the storied flagship of the Argentine navy as part of court-ordered relief for the Latin American country’s jilted creditors. Over the weekend a somnolent United Nations tribunal has waded into the controversy with a decision that not […]

Turkey and the EU: Too Late?

Though his country has been aspiring to join the European Union since the 1960s, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warns “the EU will lose Turkey” if action in accession does not happen by the 2023 centennial of the Turkish Republic.

China’s Bad Diplomacy

By James Clad and Robert Manning

A joke now making the rounds in Asia asks, “who is America’s most effective diplomat in Asia?” The punch line brings knowing laughter: “‘Mr. Beijing.’ Yes, Mr. Bob Beijing is playing America’s best hand.”

Pacific NATO?

By Julian Lindley-French

The Atlantic Alliance is about to enter a tumultuous period of change both in Europe and the wider world. How we all conceive of our place in that world will be critical to the Alliance.

The Fog of Political War

By Harlan Ullman

This isn’t an original theme. The reference was suggested to me two years ago by the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salman Taseer, three months before he was killed by one of his bodyguards in Islamabad.