International Organizations

NATO-EU Cooperation Talks Show Little Sign of Progress

By Europolitics

From Europolitics: The dispute between Turkey and Cyprus has hamstrung relations between the two organisations since Cyprus joined the EU in 2004. Ankara restricts cooperation at a number of levels, claiming that it wants to prevent sensitive military operations being passed on to the Greek Cypriot authorities. Cyprus has responded by blocking Turkish participation in […]

Rasmussen and Ashton Discuss Bosnia and EU-NATO Cooperation

By NATO

From NATO:  On 25 May, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Baroness Catherine Ashton, met with Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. They met both bilaterally and at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council and the EU Political and Security Committee. The main topic of discussion was […]

Assessing “NATO 2020”

By Emiliano Alessandri, Brookings Institution

From Emiliano Alessandri, Brookings Institution: The report is comprehensive and detailed. Its recommendations, however, do not always match the measure of vision and boldness that many think is needed to invigorate NATO and renew its sense of purpose. Visionary or provocative proposals floated in recent months in expert and political circles, such as opening NATO’s door […]

Euro Fall Spells Trouble for the Balkan EU Perspective

By Borut Grgic

The Euro crisis is far from over despite – or perhaps because of – the decision by the ECB to set-up a 750 billion euro emergency fund to protect the euro-zone countries from going bankrupt.  The economic outlook is grim, which is likely to have some profound political consequences, not least on EU’s enlargement policy.

Turkey’s Zero-Problems Foreign Policy

By Ahmet Davutoğlu, Foreign Policy

From Ahmet Davutoğlu, Foreign Policy:  During the Cold War, Turkey was a "wing country" under NATO’s strategic framework, resting on the geographic perimeter of the Western alliance. NATO’s strategic concept, however, has evolved in the post-Cold War era — and so has Turkey’s calculation of its strategic environment. Turkey’s presence in Afghanistan is a clear […]

Finnish PM Says Finland Should Keep NATO Door Ajar

By Xinhua

Lavrov Tells EU, NATO Not to Meddle in CIS Affairs

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Wednesday the European Union and NATO against interfering in the internal affairs of post-Soviet states. Lavrov told the lower house of parliament that events such as the Ukrainian elections and the Kyrgyz revolution prove that interference in the internal affairs of independent states can produce […]

NATO: Reboot or Delete?

By Sarwar Kashmeri

It would be a pity to let NATO fade away; because it will then have to be reinvented someday. And that will not be easy. Today’s NATO is an increasingly dysfunctional organization, still searching for a new role two decades after the end of the Cold War. Left dangling in this state NATO will soon […]

Goodbye to Europe?

By James Joyner

"It is more than a little ironic that NATO has committed itself to defining a new strategic concept at precisely the moment the transatlantic relationship counts for less than at any time since the 1930s."  So begins an FT op-ed by CFR president Richard Haass.

The EU, NATO and the Limits of Burdensharing

By Charlemagne, the Economist

From Charlemagne, the Economist: Since 1949, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty has bound NATO members to a solemn vow: an armed attack on one of the alliance shall be treated as an attack against all. With international markets closed to Greece, and contagion threatening Portugal and Spain, European Union leaders agreed to a […]