Security & Defense

Video: Interoperability, capabilities, and partnerships top priorities for new NATO commander

By NATO

From NATO:  General Jean-Paul Paloméros said on Monday (14 January) that his top three priorities as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation were to foster Allied interoperability and capabilities and bolstering cooperation with partners.

Mali: No way to go to a war going nowhere

By J. Peter Pham

French aircraft strafed Islamist rebels in Mali for the third day in a row on Sunday. Additional French troops arrived in the West African country’s capital to shore up its rickety transitional government in the face of an offensive by the militants who seized control of northern provinces last spring and have been imposing their […]

Banks seek NSA help amid attacks on their computer systems

By Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post

From Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post:  Major U.S. banks have turned to the National Security Agency for help protecting their computer systems after a barrage of assaults that have disrupted their Web sites, according to industry officials.

Parliament: Cyber attack could fatally compromise British military

By U.K. House of Commons

The Iranian Cliff

By Harlan Ullman

If 2012 turned out to be the year of the “Cliff Hanger,” what will 2013 bring? This column has written about the fiscal, strategic and civility cliffs. Alarmingly, the worst may yet to come: Consider the “Iranian cliff.”

In Syria, War is the New Normal

By Rajan Menon

After 22 months of civil war, in which an estimated 60,000 people have died, Syrian President Bashar Assad gave a defiant speech Sunday that ruled out negotiations with rebel fighters and made clear that he intends to remain in power as long as possible. Assad’s words came as no great surprise. Seasoned diplomats, including former […]

Bank Hacks Were Work of Iranians, Officials Say

By Nicole Perlroth and Quentin Hardy, New York Times

From Nicole Perlroth and Quentin Hardy, New York Times:  The attackers hit one American bank after the next.

Economic, Not Security Strategy, Key for Stability in South China Sea

By Philip Haxel

For all of its economic dynamism, the regional stability of the Asia-Pacific is increasingly threatened by conflicting claims over small rocks and archipelagos in the South China Sea. However trivial these disputes may appear, a breakout into physical conflict would have massive ramifications for the US economy, as each year 1.2 trillion dollars in US […]

Saving Syria from Assad

By Julian Lindley-French

Syrian President Assad left little grounds for optimism in his 6 January ‘peace’ initiative. Clearly there can now be no peace with Assad but what will it take to get rid of him and what would happen if he went?

Chuck Hagel: A Defense Secretary Who Knows Price of War

By James Joyner

President Obama has just announced the nomination of Senator Chuck Hagel, the chairman of the Atlantic Council, to be the 24th Secretary of Defense.   ATLANTIC COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE on Hagel’s nomination Full transcript of President Obama’s remarks If Hagel survives the nomination fight in the Senate—and I believe he will—he’ll be the second consecutive […]