Category: Blogs

Germany and the Two Little PIIGS

By James Joyner

Once again, instability in one of the PIIGS threatens to destabilize the Eurozone.  As with the summer’s crisis in Greece, the linchpin in the ongoing Irish mess is Germany. CSM‘s Robert Marquand puts it bluntly, noting that the need to bail out two countries in order to save them from their own profligacy and foolishness is "shaking […]

Polish ForMin: “We should be prepared for the day when Europe has to take care of its own security”

By Radek Sikorski, the Economist

Georgia renounces use of force against breakaway territories

By Dan Alexe, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Enhancing NATO-EU Cooperation

By Stanley Sloan

The Atlantic Council hosted an excellent discussion on the eve of the NATO Lisbon Summit on the problems facing the alliance. In particular, it focused on the fact that transatlantic security cooperation remains handicapped by issues between Greece and Turkey that continue to block effective NATO/European Union collaboration. The panelists all appropriately agreed that the […]

NATO SecGen: “This summit in Lisbon has been a great, great success”

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

Should NATO renew REFORGER exercises?

By Anne Applebaum, the Washington Post

From Anne Applebaum, the Washington Post:  When the International Security Assistance Force leaves Afghanistan in 2014 or thereabouts – as last weekend’s NATO summit has agreed – NATO’s soldiers can return home having proved, if nothing else, that the Western military alliance still exists.

Germany decides to end conscription next July

By the AP

From the AP:  Germany’s defense minister announced Monday the nation will end conscription in July 2011 and switch to a slimmed-down volunteer military service of some 185,000 troops focused on missions abroad. The reforms are aimed at realigning the German army to better reflect the nation’s post-Cold War needs, Karl[-Theodor] zu Guttenberg told a military […]

Ten Suspected Terrorists Arrested in Europe

By the Telegraph

From the Telegraph:  Ten alleged Islamists have been detained in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany suspected of plotting an attack in Belgium, according to the prosecutor’s office. The arrests were part of "an inquiry into international jihadist terror," a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office said. "In total 10 people suspected of preparing an attack […]

Taliban Leader in Secret Talks Was an Impostor

By Dexter Filkins and Carlotta Gall, the New York Times

From Dexter Filkins and Carlotta Gall, the New York Times:  For months, the secret talks unfolding between Taliban and Afghan leaders to end the war appeared to be showing promise, if only because of the appearance of a certain insurgent leader at one end of the table: Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour

Italy: What NATO means for us

NATO has released new videos on YouTube providing national perspectives on the Alliance.