Category: Blogs

Update: NATO activities in Libya on June 22

By NATO

Latvia seeking NATO support over Mistral threat

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Latvia will ask NATO for support if Russia deploys French-built Mistral warships in the Baltic Sea because it would change the balance of forces in the region, Defense Minister Artis Pabriks said on Wednesday. Russia and France signed last Friday a $1.7 billion (1.2 bln euro) contract on two French-built Mistral class […]

NATO to reset for the 21st century in Chicago

By Thomas Wright, the Chicago Tribune

From Thomas Wright, the Chicago Tribune:  President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that Chicago will host the NATO and G-8 summits in May 2012.

NATO Secretary General on US Afghan drawdown

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  I have spoken with President Obama. I welcome his announcement to begin the drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan in July.

Obama on Afghanistan, NATO and U.S. leadership in the world

By Barack Obama, the White House

From Barack Obama, the White House:  Thanks to our extraordinary men and women in uniform, our civilian personnel, and our many coalition partners, we are meeting our goals.

Atlantic Update 6/23/2011

By HuiHui Ooi

European leaders react positively towards President Obama’s declaration to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. The EU extended its sanctions against the Syrian regime. In the European missile defense arena, Aselsan won a $1B contract with the Turkish Air Defense. The Greek financial crisis is the top priority of the EU summit in Brussels this week. Is the EU’s […]

Are Leadership and Political Courage Enough?

By Harlan Ullman

Two completely unrelated data points ironically apply to repairing U.S.-Pakistani relations: George Bernard Shaw quipped that America and Britain were two nations divided by a common language. Seventy years ago — June 22, 1941 — Nazi shock troops stormed into Soviet Russia in a surprise attack that ultimately helped lead to the defeat of Hitler’s […]

NATO Allies Have a Head Start on Afghan Withdrawal

By Rod Nordland, the New York Times

From Rod Nordland, the New York Times: While officials here wait to hear what President Obama has to say about the pace of United States troop withdrawal, some of the NATO allies have a slight head start. Canada, which has 2,922 troops in Afghanistan, the fifth-largest military contingent among the countries contributing forces to the […]

NATO’s Surreal World

By Sarwar Kashmeri, the New Atlanticist

From Sarwar Kashmeri, the New Atlanticist:  NATO’s disarray has begun to chip away at the wider European-American relationship currently contributing 14 million jobs and $3 trillion in commercial sales.