New Atlanticist

Fighting the Peace Spoilers

By Andrew Kessinger

On January 24th the U.N. Security Council – with backing from the Obama administration – decided to remove five former high-ranking Taliban leaders from its global terrorist blacklist. The move was controversial for a reason: it was the first time sanctions had ever been lifted for Taliban members and signaled that the international community was […]

Iraq and Afghanistan Eroding Transatlantic Bonds

By Magnus Nordenman

Wars fundamentally change militaries. For example, the bloody and muddy stalemate of World War I led defeated Germany to invest in the innovative use of armor and firepower to break that stalemate. The U.S. experience in Vietnam led to the rise of the professional and all-volunteer force that is now fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. […]

China’s Economic Miracle Has Limits

By Mohan Guruswamy

The inexorable growth of China’s GDP has now taken it past Japan and it now takes aim at surpassing that of the USA, whose economy is at present more than two and a half times bigger. It took China a little less than a decade to make a similar leap to overtake Japan. But then […]

Pakistan: Assessing the Tragedy

By Mohsin Khan and Shuja Nawaz

The floods in Pakistan have affected one-fifth of the country (an area roughly the size of England) and engulfed large parts of all four provinces—Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North West Frontier Province). The vast scope of the damage makes this a truly national disaster with long-term economic and political consequences. With waters […]

War & Peace in the Mideast

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Although the Mideast peace process is important, said Elliott Abrams’ invitation, there is something more important in that part of the world. "Members of the Friends of Israel initiative are even more concerned about the onslaught of radical Islamism as well as the specter of a nuclear Iran, both of which threaten the entire world," […]

EU Gets Tough on Iran

By Emanuele Ottolenghi

The European Union sometimes earns well-deserved criticism for its foreign policy. But praise should be given where praise is deserved – and the EU’s latest effort to target Iran with tough autonomous sanctions is one such case. Clearly, the measures the EU adopted on July 26 can be further expanded. More can be done. But […]

Eurasia Reimagined

By Samuel Charap and Alexandros Petersen

As Kyrgyzstan descended into chaos after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in April 2010, most observers were focused on the fate of the key U.S. airbase there. They feared that Moscow had orchestrated the unrest as revenge for Bakiyev reneging on his alleged promise to shut down the base and would now demand that the […]

Iraq: Mission Accomplished…Again

By Derek Reveron

Pakistan At Risk: Rains or Guns of August?

By Harlan Ullman

As the rains continue and floodwaters roar into Sindh and Punjab, the future of Pakistan as both a state and nation is in grave doubt. To understand the magnitude of this catastrophe, imagine if in the United States much of the landmass from Boston to New Orleans east of the Mississippi was under 20 feet […]

France’s Economic Recovery Targets Impressive or Unrealistic? View from Europe

By Scott Bleiweis

While neighboring Germany has been praised for record levels of economic growth, France has been criticized for setting targets it will have a hard time reaching. Even though the French government recently reduced its economic growth targets for 2011 from 2.5% to 2.0%, some think the lower figure is still too optimistic.