Category: Blogs

NATO dysfunction is a two-way street

By the Editors of the Boston Globe

From the Editors of the Boston Globe:  The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is losing its coherence, and not just because European allies are shirking their obligations.

NATO’s Surreal World

By Sarwar Kashmeri

From the International Herald Tribune, June 23, 2011: Has the Atlantic alliance outlived its usefulness? The British journalist and writer Geoffrey Wheatcroft raised that question in an opinion article (“Who needs NATO?,” June 16) that drew a strong reaction from Ivo H. Daalder, the U.S. permanent representative to NATO, who argued that the alliance is […]

What Does Russia Want?

By Julian Lindley-French

22 June, 2011. At 0315 hours seventy years ago to the day Axis powers attacked the Soviet Union. Some 4.5 million Axis soldiers attacked the Red Army on a 2900km (1800 miles) long front. Adolf Hitler said, “we have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down’. Less […]

Italy breaks ranks over NATO’s Libya mission

By Ella Ide, AFP

From Ella Ide, AFP:  Italy called for a suspension of hostilities in Libya on Wednesday in the latest sign of dissent within NATO as the civilian death toll mounts and Moamer Kadhafi shows no signs of quitting power.

Head of British Army questions deadline for Afghan troop withdrawal

By James Kirkup, the Telegraph

From James Kirkup, the Telegraph:  Just 24 hours after the Prime Minister rebuked military chiefs for publicly criticising the Government, General Sir Peter Wall, the Chief of the General Staff, suggests in a television programme that Mr Cameron’s 2015 “deadline” to end combat operations could slip.

Budget cuts reducing NATO’s planned UAV purchase

By Bradley Peniston, Defense News

From Bradley Peniston, Defense News:  NATO is continuing to negotiate with Northrop Grumman on an estimated 1 billion euro ($1.4 billion) contract to provide the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Core Capability, a small fleet of radar-equipped Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.

Update: NATO activities in Libya on June 21

By NATO

Libya War-Funding Fight Escalates

By Siobhan Hughes, the Wall Street Journal

From Siobhan Hughes, the Wall Street Journal:  U.S. lawmakers staked out starkly different positions Tuesday on the legitimacy of the American intervention in Libya, suggesting more legislative challenges are ahead in a debate the White House had hoped to put to rest.

Steny Hoyer: Defunding Libya undermines NATO

By Seung Min Kim, POLITICO

From Seung Min Kim, POLITICO:  House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said Tuesday he opposes the idea percolating in the House to defund U.S. involvement in Libya. “It certainly would undermine the confidence of NATO in the ability of the president of the United States to participate in support of an effort that NATO had agreed […]

Gates warns of lack of vision and walking away from US leadership in the world

By John Barry and Tara McKelvey, Newsweek

From John Barry and Tara McKelvey, Newsweek:  Aboard the Pentagon jet on his last foreign trip as secretary of defense, Robert Gates takes a moment to peer across the American horizon—and the view is dire: the U.S. is in danger of losing its supremacy on the global stage, he says.