Category: Blogs

Stakes are Higher in Pakistan than Afghanistan

By Harlan Ullman

In Afghanistan, the Obama administration faces an array of agonizing choices, none of which is good. Making matters worse, the most important strategic issue is not Afghanistan. The strategic fulcrum in containing and defeating the insurgency that is spilling over and across the Hindu Kush is Pakistan.

Nabucco Edging Ahead of South Stream?

By Alexandros Petersen

At the opening of the Atlantic Council’s Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum in Bucharest on September 30, you couldn’t ask for a better mix of commercial and geopolitical interests when it comes to energy development in Eurasia.  But not because the speakers represented a government and the private sector.

The Russia-Georgia Conflict: An Invasion by Any Other Name

By David Smith

The long awaited European Union-commissioned report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia was published last week.  Unsurprisingly, it largely corroborates Georgian accounts of Russia’s August 2008 invasion while blaming Georgia for sparking the conflict.

Rethinking Security in “Greater Europe”

By the European Council on Foreign Relations

From the European Council on Foreign Relations: Both the EU and NATO have exhausted their potential for “light” expansion. Both organizations have entered an area of open rivalry, where they will inevitably meet with opposition from Russia. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that not a single country in the former Soviet Union, including […]

Jim Jones and Bob Gates: Service in a Polarized Age

By James Joyner

Michael Goldfarb, formerly chief blogger for the McCain campaign, wrote a piece for the Weekly Standard blog with the provocative title “Rent-a-General Jim Jones,” arguing that the man who spent four decades serving his country as an officer in the Marine Corps, rising to Commandant and then Supreme Allied Commander, is a partisan stooge for […]

Russia Ready For Restoration Of Ties With NATO

By AP

From AP: Russia is ready to fully restore cooperation with NATO which was suspended in the aftermath of the Russia-Georgia war, the Kremlin said Wednesday. A planned trip to Moscow by NATO’s secretary-general should demonstrate that the alliance is also ready for developing ties, said Nataliya Timakova, a spokeswoman for President Dmitry Medvedev. “Of course, […]

Danish defence chief quits over Arabic book uproar

By Reuters

From Reuters: The head of Denmark’s defence forces quit on Sunday after the military was forced to admit its own officers had translated into Arabic a book describing Danish special forces’ operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Admiral Tim Jorgensen resigned after it emerged that a military computer specialist produced an Arabic version of a book […]

Vershbow on U.S./Russia missile defense links

Q.: In what particular areas can Russia and the U.S. cooperate on missile defense? Does Washington consider the possibility that the two countries could jointly operate the Russian radar station in Gabala, Azerbaijan, and its S-300 and S-400 air defense systems? A.: Secretary of Defense Gates and other senior defense officials have already pointed to […]