Category: Blogs

The IMF’s Thorny Transatlantic Feud

By Kati Suominen, the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.

From Kati Suominen, the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.:  In a move likely to please China, India, and Brazil, but force a confrontation with Europe, the Obama administration last month blocked plans that would maintain the current size of the board of directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Medvedev: Parliamentary democracy would be “catastrophe” for Russia and Kyrgystan

By InterFax

From InterFax:  A parliamentary democracy is an unacceptable form of governance for Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev said. Speaking at a meeting with political analysts in Yaroslavl he said that he spent the first two years changing the political structure at the federal and regional levels. "But there is no need for radical changes. Not because […]

Russia’s integration into NATO senseless – envoy

By RIA Novosti

Medvedev says U.S. “envious” over European security system proposals

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  The United States is experiencing a certain amount of envy over Russia’s attempts to create a new system of European security, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. Medvedev proposed drawing up a new European security pact in June 2008, and Russia published a draft of the treaty in December 2009, sending copies […]

Can Erdogan pull it off?

By the Economist

From the Economist:  Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has cast the [proposed constitutional] reforms as a stab in the heart of the September 1980 coup plotters. The referendum falls on its 30th anniversary. But Mr Erdogan’s critics view the changes as a final assault on Ataturk’s secular republic. For the common voter the referendum […]

Britain’s “overstretched defence budget faces a massive cut”

By the Economist

From the Economist:  On September 17th the newly formed National Security Council (NSC), chaired by the prime minister, David Cameron, will begin discussing how to cut Britain’s defence budget. The conversation will be informed by the Strategic Defence and Security Review, which the coalition government embarked upon within weeks of taking office. Whereas the last […]

It’s time for the Senate to vote on New START

By George Shultz-Madeleine Albright-Gary Hart and Chuck Hagel

The Senate should promptly vote to approve the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (New START) with Russia for one reason: It increases U.S. national security. This is precisely why Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared at the outset of Senate consideration of the treaty that it has "the unanimous support of America’s military leadership." The treaty […]

The Future of Canada’s Armed Forces

By the Economist

From the Economist:  Canada was a big air- and sea-power after the second world war, and deployed combat troops in the Korean war. Since then, however, its forces have focused on peacekeeping. In the 1990s a Liberal government balanced the budget on the back of the army, in what Rick Hillier, a former chief of […]

Pentagon to welcome first official visit of Russian Defense Minister

By Geoff Morrell, U.S. Department of Defense

From Geoff Morrell, U.S. Department of Defense:  Wednesday of next week, the secretary will welcome Russian Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov to the Pentagon for the first time.

Alliance Chief: ” this isn’t your daddy’s NATO anymore”

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  At the upcoming NATO Summit in November, we’re going to adopt a new Strategic Concept. The strategic concept will set the direction of the Alliance for the next ten years or so. And I think, the comprehensive approach and the partnerships will have a prominent place in this document – […]