New Atlanticist

Taiwan’s Democracy at Home and Abroad: Implications of 2010 Municipal Elections for Cross-Strait Relations

By Patrick deGategno and Sam Dreiman

Taiwan’s recent municipal elections show a growing de facto consensus among Taiwan’s major parties that officially declaring independence is not an option and that closer economic and cultural ties with the Mainland are a must. According to a panel of experts speaking December 1 at the Atlantic Council, future Taiwan governments, whether led by Taiwan’s current ruling […]

How China, Rest of World Can Get Along

By Banning Garrett

European Defense Integration

By James Joyner

 With defense austerity a fact of life during the global recession, many of us have been calling for more cooperative measures such as the recent French-UK accord.   Not only would this help rationalize the process and thus minimize the security impact of the cuts but it lessens the political damage that would stem from […]

Dealing with Debt in Europe – Begging for Clarity

By Susan Schadler

Alongside last week’s unveiling of support for Ireland, the euro group announced the broad outline of a permanent plan, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), for dealing with future debt crises. Two aspects of the announcement stand out: it takes at most a wobbly step toward the professed goal of creating a mechanism for restructuring sovereign […]

What Afghans Think – And What They Know

By James Joyner

A new poll shows that "Afghans are more pessimistic about the direction of their country, less confident in the ability of the United States and its allies to provide security and more willing to negotiate with the Taliban than they were a year ago." At the same time, trends are positive in Helmand and Kandahar, the two provinces targeted […]

Presidential Decision Punts

By Harlan Ullman

To use a football metaphor, the United States needs an able quarterback in the Oval Office. As three new books out this fall vividly reveal, we have had a punter in that position for some considerable time where fumbling has been a long suit.

Eurozone: Time For Drastic Action?

By James Joyner

IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn today said that, while he did not believe the euro was at risk, the EU must take  a more “comprehensive, integrated” plan rather than the current "piecemeal approach." These remarks, FT reports, come the day after a meeting with EU finance ministers yielded only frustration, with officials "divided over the two most high-profile proposals, increasing the […]

WikiLeaks: One Foreign Service Officer’s View

By Susan Ball

As a career Foreign Service Officer, I guess I should be gratified that various analysts and news outlets have declared, as a result of leaked State Department dispatches, that the U.S. diplomatic corps is dedicated, astute and insightful.   However, I think I can speak for the majority of my colleagues when I say that […]

Ending America’s ‘Sea Blindness’

By Butch Bracknell and James Kraska

 The United States suffers from a kind of "sea blindness" — an inability to appreciate the central role the oceans and naval power have played in securing our strategic security and economic prosperity. One symptom of this bipartisan malady has been that the country is failing to take an active role in shaping the world […]

American Exceptionalism Lives on as Dollar Preserves its Hold on World Money

By Darrell Delamaide

As the euro drama unfolds across the Atlantic, no one in Washington is holding their breath over the next choice piece of advice German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble will impart about how best to manage a currency. On the other hand, there’s little indication of outright Schadenfreude, because the dismal goings-on in Europe don’t bode […]