Security & Defense

NATO Moves Command HQ to Romania for Military Exercise

By AP and Allied Joint Force Command Naples

From Alison Mutler, AP:  NATO will briefly move an allied joint force command headquarter to Romania as the alliance continues to hone its ability to react to Russia’s moves in Ukraine and other security challenges, a top commander said Tuesday.

Northern Mali’s critical moment

By Africa Center

Mali has largely fallen from international headlines after a 2013 French military intervention drove back the constellation of terror groups occupying the northern part of the country, but the security situation has again deteriorated to the point it poses an urgent threat to the whole of the country as well as the region. There are […]

Nations Around Baltic Sea Increasing Defense Spending

By Charles Duxbury, Christina Zander, and Juhana Rossi, Wall Street Journal

After Russia grabbed a piece of the Black Sea coast from Ukraine and ramped up its marine and air force exercises on and over the Baltic, the other eight countries with a piece of that sea’s shoreline have realized that this backwater isn’t as placid as it was.

NATO transformation seminar

NATO is confronting the most rapid negative change in its security environment since its founding, compelling Allies to refocus on collective defense in Europe and re-examine the relevance of NATO’s strategy. While this effort started in advance of NATO’s previous summit in Wales, the Alliance’s latest adaptation has only just begun. The crises of today […]

Commander of US Military in Europe Sees Signs of Russia Preparing Another Offensive

By Philip Breedlove, EUCOM

Compared to just one year ago, Europe faces a very different, and much more challenging security environment.one with significant, lasting implications for U.S. national security interests.

Is the United States Really Indispensable?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Analysts debate US role in the face of global challenges President Bill Clinton, speaking in 1996 on the US-backed NATO military intervention in Bosnia, described the United States as an “indispensable nation.” Scholars debated that premise April 30 at the Global Strategy Forum hosted by the Atlantic Council’s Strategy Initiative in Washington. Xenia Wickett, Dean […]

Russia Threatens NATO Over Missile Shield

By Paul Sonne, Wall Street Journal

Russia’s top general warned European countries planning to host installations for a U.S.-led missile-defense shield that Russian forces would be forced to target them.

Allies Worried About Britain’s Drift From Global Stage

By Steven Erlanger, New York Times

Its military reach has diminished. It has played little role in confronting Russia over Ukraine and strictly limited its response to crises in the Middle East and Africa.