Politics & Diplomacy

Will Europe Choose to Be a Security Provider?

By Sven Biscop, New Atlanticist

From Sven Biscop, New Atlanticist:  In December 2013 the heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) will discuss defense.

Arctic Council Adds Six Members, Including China

By Steven Lee Myers, New York Times

From Steven Lee Myers, New York Times: The Arctic Council agreed on Wednesday to expand to include six new nations, including China, as observer states, as a changing climate opens the Arctic to increasing economic and political competition.

Assistant Secretary of State Countryman: The US “Will Sign” the UN Arms Trade Treaty

From March 8th through the 28th, the United Nations held a conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)—the last days of a seven-year effort to control the flow of small arms so that they do not end up in the hands of terrorists, organizations aimed at committing human rights abuses, and other malicious entities. The […]

Hollande’s Survival Mode Endangers Survival

By Nicholas Dungan

From his 75 percent income tax to his 25 percent approval ratings, François Hollande, the French president who took office one year ago, has already been judged the hapless Louis XVI on the eve of the French Revolution or the feckless René Coty who presided over the demise of the Fourth Republic. But what has […]

The Growing Franco-German Schism

By Frederick Kempe

 Occasionally a public opinion survey surfaces that signals a seismic event. That is the case with a new report from the Pew Research Center that measures the widening tremors of a political earthquake now shaking Europe. Although the report leads with evidence that  Europeans are increasingly losing faith in the European Union (which I wrote […]

Europe’s Strategic Future: Implications of the Eurozone Crisis

By Atlantic Council and the Royal United Services Institute

The Atlantic Council and the Royal United Services Institute have issued a joint publication entitled Europe’s Strategic Future: Implications of the Eurozone Crisis. The report features perspectives from the United States, the United Kingdom, and India analyzing how the Eurozone crisis is likely to impact Europe’s role in the world. Download the PDF

Defense: And What Will Europe Do?

By Sven Biscop

The debate about European defense tends to focus on the need to spend more and deploy more. One deceptively simple question is usually ignored: why? Americans seem to assume that more European capabilities will be deployed where it is convenient for the United States. Europeans just seek to avoid the difficult debate that it would […]

The Treacherous Road to Pakistan’s Historic Elections

By Shuja Nawaz

Pakistan’s upcoming elections on May 11 provoke both fear and hope.

Poland’s Foreign Minister: ‘I’m Afraid Conflict in Europe is Imaginable’

By Radek Sikorski, Foreign Affairs

From Radek Sikorski, Foreign Affairs:  Our relations with Russia, like yours, are pragmatic but brittle.

Pakistani Politics: Perils and Paradoxes

By Harlan Ullman

This weekend, many tens of millions of some 200 million Pakistanis will elect new national and four provincial governments. The elections are a remarkable milestone due in large measure to President Asif Zardari’s political navigational skills in the most roiled of waters.