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NATOSource

Sep 21, 2012

Report: Iran behind “significant and ongoing” cyber attacks against U.S. financial institutions

By Robert Windrem and Jim  Miklaszewsk, NBC News

From Robert Windrem and Jim  Miklaszewsk, NBC News:  National security officials told NBC News that the continuing cyber attacks this week that slowed the websites of JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are being carried out by the government of Iran.

Cybersecurity
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 20, 2012

Missing in Action: A Plan to Win the War of Ideas

By Harlan Ullman

Last week’s violence in more than 20 Muslim countries with four Americans killed in Libya has been attributed to a highly offensive 13-minute video that went viral on YouTube igniting these protests.

Middle East
National Security

NATOSource

Sep 20, 2012

Panetta talks cyber issues with Chinese, but experts see no decline in attacks out of China

By Lolita C. Baldor, AP

From Lolita C. Baldor, AP:  Despite several years of escalating diplomacy and warnings, the U.S. is making little headway in its efforts to tamp down aggressive Chinese cyberattacks against American companies and the government. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who is wrapping up three days of meetings with military and civilian leaders, said he has […]

Cybersecurity
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2012

The Day We Lost Afghanistan

By James Joyner

That the war in Afghanistan has been unwinnable has been obvious to most outside analysts since well before the so-called surge of 2009. Now, the United States government has finally admitted the obvious in deeds if not words.

Afghanistan
Security & Defense
Chinese oil rig in South China Sea

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2012

Deep-Water Oil Rigs as Strategic Weapons

By Martin N. Murphy

This, at least, is how Wang Yilin, Chairman of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), chooses to view them. He reportedly told an audience at CNOOC’s headquarters in Beijing in May that ‘large-scale deep-water rigs are our mobile national territory and a strategic weapon’.

China
Energy & Environment

New Atlanticist

Sep 18, 2012

US-Mideast Policy Is Isolating America, Not Iran

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Two thirds of the U.N.’s countries recently signed a communique expressing support for Iran’s nuclear energy program and rejecting, what they termed, the United States’ unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic. A flashing red light that signals the American policy aimed at isolating Iran in order to curb its nuclear ambitions appears instead to have […]

International Organizations
Iran

Event Recap

Sep 18, 2012

Roundtable with Nigerien minister of justice on crisis in the Sahel

By Africa Center

The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a roundtable today on the crisis in the Sahel with H.E. Marou Amadou, minister of justice, guardian of seals, and spokesperson of the government the Republic of Niger. The minister, who is in Washington for meetings with US officials before traveling to New York to represent his country […]

Africa
Conflict

Event Recap

Sep 17, 2012

Farewell Dinner for General Stephane Abrial

By Jason Harmala

On September 17, the Atlantic Council organized a farewell dinner for General Stéphane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. As General Abrial is scheduled to turn over his command of Allied Command Transformation to his replacement in early October, this dinner provided his Washington friends and partners with an opportunity to say farewell. General Abrial thanked […]

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 17, 2012

Turkish Ambassador Calls For NATO to ‘Act Decisively’ in Syria

By James Joyner

In the most powerful call for action yet by his government, Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan declared, “The implosion of Syria is a regional conflagration that threatens international peace and security. What we expect from our partners is a serious engagement and meaningful contribution to the resolution of this conflict.”

NATO
Security & Defense

NATOSource

Sep 17, 2012

Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper chosen to lead NATO’s International Military Staff

By NATO

From NATO:  [T]he Chiefs of Defence of the 28 NATO nations elected Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper of the United Kingdom as the new Director General of the International Military Staff (DGIMS) at NATO Headquarters.

NATO
Security & Defense

Experts

Events