Category: Blogs

Time for an Embargo on Reset Policy

By David Smith

When even a handful of demonstrators take to Tbilisi streets, residents of the Georgian capital wonder whether Russia will seize upon a pretext for further aggression against Georgia. And, they ask, what lies between us and the Russian tanks that occupy the Georgian region of South Ossetia, just 40 kilometers away? The answer: a diligent and proud […]

Atlantic Update 06/02/11

By HuiHui Ooi

Europe considers imposing trade and arm bans on Yemen if President Saleh refuses to step down, and reacts to the arrest and extradition of Ratko Mladic. The European Central Bank tackles EU’s economic issues.

The 79th Day

By Harlan Ullman

Next Tuesday marks the 79th day of NATO’s military campaign to protect Libyan civilians and force Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to abdicate power. A dozen years ago, 78 days were required to compel then Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his army from Kosovo. The comparison is inexact as both crises are quite different. But, […]

Auschwitz

By Julian Lindley-French

Sunday, I walked in Auschwitz – Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. I walked before the walls of Elysium, the final resting place of the heroic and virtuous. I paid my respects to people, not numbers. Three of whom spoke to me – Anne Kraus, Hana Weisenkind, and Berta Eppinghausen. They spoke to me not because […]

NATO and Russian fighter aircraft in joint counter-terrorism exercise

By NATO

From NATO:  From 6 to 10 June 2011, NATO and Russian fighter aircraft will take part in counterterrorism exercise “Vigilant Skies 2011” – a joint demonstration of the NATO-Russia Council Cooperative Airspace Initiative (NRC CAI).

Update: NATO activities in Libya on May 31

By NATO

NATO extends Libya operation for another 90 days

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  NATO and partners have just decided to extend our mission for Libya [Operation Unified Protector] for another 90 days. This decision sends a clear message to the Qadhafi regime: We are determined to continue our operation to protect the people of Libya. We will sustain our efforts to fulfil the United […]

Election in Turkey will have an impact across the Middle East

By Anthony Shadid, the New York Times

From Anthony Shadid, the New York Times:  As Turkey heads to an election on June 12 — the size of Mr. [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s majority the only question — the country faces an Arab Spring, which took it by surprise

Berlin 1961: The East German Refugee Who Became a Beauty Queen

By Frederick Kempe

She was East German leader Walter Ulbricht’s ultimate humiliation in a year when a hemorrhage of refugees was threatening the existence of his Communist state.  As Ulbricht maneuvered behind the scenes to win Soviet approval to close his Berlin border, one of his refugees was strutting down the catwalk of a Miami Beach stage in […]

NATO and the Arab Spring

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the International Herald Tribune

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the International Herald Tribune:  The dramatic developments across North Africa and the Middle East remind me of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.