Category: Event Recap

Strengthening the US-Japan Alliance

On February 26, 2014, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security held a not-for-attribution roundtable briefing on the US-Japan alliance and what it portends for US extended deterrence in Asia. The briefing featured Mira Rapp-Hooper, Stanton nuclear security fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and was presided over by project co-chair Richard […]

Georgia Seeks US Support and an Early NATO Membership Plan

By James Rupert

As Russia presses its former Soviet neighbors – Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova — to halt their integration with the European Union and NATO, the prime minister of Georgia urged the United States to sustain clear support for the right of ex-Soviet states to turn westward. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili spoke February 25 at the Atlantic […]

Pentagon Budget Preview: Implications for US Defense

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey previewed the Pentagon’s FY2015 on Monday, February 24. Major highlights included the proposed cutting Army personnel from 480,000 to approximately 440,00; the retirement of both the A-10 Thunderbolt II and the U-2 spy plane; the addition of 4,000 people to […]

Tipping Point? Public Opinion and US Cuba Policy in 2014

Cold War rhetoric and extremist policy were central to the discussion of the Atlantic Council poll on US-Cuba policy, hosted at the Pacific Council in Lost Angeles. Pollster Paul Maslin began the event by explaining that many Americans think the United States has worse relations with Cuba than with Iran. Congressman Howard Berman seized upon this […]

Ukraine’s Amb. Shamshur: Still Work to Do on Peace Deal

Opposition Advisor Warns of Secession Dangers European Union mediators and Ukrainian opposition leaders still face a challenge in winning full acceptance of today’s deal to end the country’s political crisis, said Oleh Shamshur, a Ukrainian diplomat who advises opposition party leader Vitaliy Klitschko. While Klitschko’s party and the two other main opposition groups in parliament […]

Working Group on Deterring a Nuclear-Armed Iran

Despite the interim agreement on the Iranian nuclear program in November 2013, Iran’s nuclear program remains perhaps the greatest emerging challenge to US national and regional security interests. US President Barack Obama has made it abundantly clear that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable and that the administration is prepared to do whatever it takes to […]

Transition Seminar for Adm. Ferguson, Incoming Commander of US 6th Fleet

Working with both European and African allies and maritime partners, US Naval Forces Europe and US Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF)/ US 6th Fleet leads security efforts in an area of responsibility consisting of the eastern half the Atlantic Ocean, hugging Europe and following the coast of Africa from the North Pole to Antarctica. In order […]

Combatant Commands Task Force Focuses on Restructuring Options

The fourth meeting of the Combatant Commands Task Force focused on specific restructuring options for the realigned COCOMs. Participants discussed the need for stronger interagency cooperation and improved regional knowledge to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of regional US security cooperation efforts. In addition, the task force considered possible changes in the core functions of […]

Reestablishing a US Diplomatic Presence in Iran

Reestablishing an American diplomatic presence in Iran is in the national security interests of the United States and would not constitute a reconciliation with Iran, argues a newly released Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) report, “Reestablishing a US Diplomatic Presence in Iran: Advancing US National Security and serving American Citizens.” This presence, given […]

US-Cuba: What Is American Public Opinion Today?

Miami, long considered the stomping ground of the hard-line, pro-embargo community has undergone a dramatic shift in demographics. 64% of Miami-Dade county now favors normalization with Cuba. There remains, however, a collection of people who adamantly support current US policy and who find the new Atlantic Council poll an affront to their long-held beliefs. This […]