Security & Defense

Afghanistan: End Game or No Game?

By Harlan Ullman

Last week was another roller coaster ride for international politics. Violence in Egypt; looming civil war in Syria; and threats and counter-threats over Iran’s nuclear intentions reverberated around the international security community intensifying the gathering sense of impending disaster. In Brussels at the NATO Defense Ministers’ meeting followed by the Munich Security Conference the next […]

Divisions within Obama administration growing over how to end Afghan war

By Karen DeYoung, the Washington Post

Is Chinese espionage responsible for the rising costs of the F-35?

By David Fulghum, Bill Sweetman, and Amy Butler, Aviation Week

From David Fulghum, Bill Sweetman, and Amy Butler, Aviation Week:  How much of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s spiraling cost in recent years can be traced to China’s cybertheft of technology and the subsequent need to reduce the fifth-generation aircraft’s vulnerability to detection and electronic attack?

NATO clears funding hurdle to buy five Global Hawks

By Stephen Trimble, Flight Global

NATO Doesn’t Yet Know How To Protect Its Networks

By Spencer Ackerman, Danger Room

From Spencer Ackerman, Danger Room:  Here at NATO Headquarters, the 2007 denial-of-service attack that took websites of member nation Estonia offline forms something of a template for worry.

What Is NATO Good For?

By Robert Haddick, Foreign Policy

From Robert Haddick, Foreign Policy:  In a briefing delivered at NATO headquarters on Jan. 30, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared that "NATO is the most successful alliance in history."

Cost drives NATO bid for smaller Afghan army

By David Brunnstrom and Justyna Pawlak, Reuters

From David Brunnstrom and Justyna Pawlak, Reuters:  Afghanistan could end up fighting Taliban insurgents with a national army and police force two-thirds the size envisaged

German Defense Minister: ‘Europe remains the biggest base for US soldiers abroad’

By Bernd Riegert, Deutsche Welle

From Bernd Riegert, Deutsche Welle:  During the NATO summit in Brussels, US Defense Secrety Leon Panetta once again briefed his partners on Washington’s military plans.

Panetta on Afghanistan 2013: ‘We will engage in combat operations as necessary’

By Leon Panetta, the Department of Defense

From Leon Panetta, the Department of Defense:  First, as an alliance, obviously we are fully committed to the Lisbon framework:  in together, out together.

A Leaner NATO Needs a Tighter Focus

By Hans Binnendijk

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have an opportunity this weekend as they address the Munich Security Conference to suggest ways to stabilize NATO’s ailing defense capabilities. European nations have slashed their defense budgets to record low levels without much regard for NATO’s overall defense requirements. And last week […]