Category: Blogs

Memo to NATO: Stay Out of Syrian Conflict

By Joshua Foust

Despite this weekend’s unanimous UN Security Council vote, which authorized a team of observers to Syria to monitor the tentative ceasefire there, there remain many questions about what can actually be done to stop the fighting. Conventional wisdom, prior to Saturday, seemed to resign the international community to doing very little about the bloodshed, thanks to […]

A Presidential Challenge

By Harlan Ullman

With the emergence of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as the presumptive Republican nominee, the presidential campaign should enter a serious phase given the gravitas of the issues. Yet the sorry state of American politics means that the chances of a meaningful debate over these difficult and indeed potentially intractable issues confronting the nation aren’t […]

Australia joins race for the exit from Afghanistan

By Elise Labott, CNN Security Clearance

Cheapening NATO’s Security Promise Weakens It

By James Joyner, the New Atlanticist

From James Joyner, the New Atlanticist:  After an incident last week in which two Syrians were killed by Assad regime forces while attempting to flee to safety in Turkey

Will the SCAF Use the Constitutional Crisis as Pretext for a Power Grab?

By Mara Revkin

Perhaps the only way to explain the haphazard and self-destructive pattern of the SCAF’s decision-making over the past year is political amnesia: Having apparently forgotten the uproar over the military’s first attempt to influence the constitutional process, the SCAF is now on the verge of repeating one of its most dangerous mistakes. As the 100-member […]

Top News: Military Pushes for Constitution Before Presidential Election

By Mara Revkin

Former presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei condemned the SCAF’s insistence on drafting a new constitution before the presidential election and said he plans to establish new political party.

Siachen: Ten Questions

By Maleeha Lodhi

It was in April twenty-eight years ago that the seeds of the Siachen conflict were sown. This April nature struck a cruel blow when an avalanche hit the area, burying 139 Pakistani soldiers and civilian workers. The tragedy is a poignant reminder of the need to settle a long-standing, costly dispute. Because facts have been […]

Cheapening NATO’s Security Promise Weakens It

By James Joyner

After an incident last week in which two Syrians were killed by Assad regime forces while attempting to flee to safety in Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan declared that “NATO has a responsibility to protect Turkish borders.”