Security & Defense

Afghanistan Debate Intensifies

By James Joyner

The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan is the latest senior official calling for additional resources for the effort there.  Meanwhile, the debate over whether NATO should continue its mission at all has taken off.

National Security in the 21st century

By Harlan Ullman

Last Sunday Barack Obama’s national security adviser, retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, made the television morning talk show rounds. Perhaps the most provocative question fired at him was why he was playing a far less visible – and critics would add even an invisible – role than his more famous predecessors such as Henry […]

An Alternative Counter-Terrorism Strategy: Domestic Elements

By Bernard Finel

Yesterday, I posted some thoughts on counter-terrorism strategy that charted a different vision from the one laid out by John Brennan last week.  Today, I will be discussing some domestic steps – homeland security measures – that would also provide better security than current measures.

Cyber Attack Shuts Down Twitter and Facebook

By James Joyner

Yesterday, Twitter, Facebook, and other popular social media sites were brought to a halt by distributed denial of service attacks.  It appears the target was a lone blogger in Georgia and the attack was timed to coincide with the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Rasmussen: Afghanistan NATO’s Top Priority

By James Joyner

New NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has wasted no time in signaling that the war in Afghanistan is the Alliance’s top priority, holding a teleconference on the conflict, reorganizing the mission’s command structure and calling for more EU help in his first days on the job.

Winners and Losers in SG Speech

In his first major speech as Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen placed a great deal of emphasis on reassuring Russia, but did he do so at the expense of alliance cohesion? As you can see in the video of his press conference, after Afghanistan, Rasmussen identified NATO-Russian relations as his second priority. He […]

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: NATO’s Last Secretary General?

By James Joyner

Denmark’s Anders Fogh Rasmussen officially takes over as head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization tomorrow.   A Guardian editorial muses that he may be “The last NATO secretary general.”

Appointment of General Stéphane Abrial to the post of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation

By NATO

From NATO: NATO today announced the appointment of General Stéphane Abrial to the post of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. General Abrial is currently Chief of Staff of the French Air Force. He will take up his new duties on 9 September 2009 at a change of command ceremony to be held at Headquarters Supreme Allied […]

Britain opts out of NATO cyber centre

By defencemanagement.com

From defencemanagement.com: Britain will not take part in a NATO cyber security and warfare scheme due to the conflicting interests that participation would cause with other government departments and allies. NATO members Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain are all sponsoring a cyber defence and warfare centre that is being setup in Estonia […]

Ilves: a balance between EU eastern and southern partnerships must prevail

By the Baltic Course

From the Baltic Course: [President Toomas Hendrik] Ilves also thanked Italy for participating in the work of the NATO co-operative cyber defence centre of competence in Tallinn. “It is good that you have stood beside us and our other allies in organising cyber defence and you understand the importance of cyber security as the problem […]