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New Atlanticist

Jan 28, 2009

NATO ‘Concerned’ About Russian Bases in Abkhazia

By James Joyner

Yesterday’s report of a Russian naval nase to be built in Abkhazia is being greeted with displeasure by NATO,  Reuters reports: Representatives of the 26 NATO states discussed the issue on Wednesday and alliance Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will raise it with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov in February, spokesman James Appathurai said.

NATO
Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 27, 2009

The End of Piracy: Can NATO Contribute?

By James Easaw

Now that the piracy crisis centered off the Somali Coast/Gulf of Aden, the Horn of Africa and, to a lesser degree, the West African Coast in the Gulf of Guinea has become big news, the international community, most recently the United Nations, has sprung into action.  The end of piracy draws nigh.  In fact, those […]

NATO
Security & Defense
FT / Harris Poll

New Atlanticist

Jan 22, 2009

The View from Europe: Afghanistan Troop Increases Unlikely

By Peter Cassata

“We can do better,” NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said of the alliance’s Afghanistan mission in Sunday’s WaPo.  Indeed, President Obama has made Afghanistan a top priority, and in addition to deploying more U.S. troops there, he is also expected to ask for greater European troop contributions.  Yet, recent opinion polls and statements […]

Afghanistan
European Union
STOCK - EU

New Atlanticist

Dec 30, 2008

Eastern European Leadership Needed

By Peter Cassata

In 2009, an east European should fill the top spot of a major international organization, a recent Economist editorial argues.  From power players like the EU Commission and NATO to “lesser posts” like OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the EBRD, east Europeans have been noticeably underrepresented at the leadership level. 

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Dec 30, 2008

From Peshawar to Batumi: Time to Realize the East-West Corridor

By David Smith

Hakimullah Mehsud makes an eloquent practical argument for development of the East-West Corridor that runs from the Black Sea to the Caspian, across Georgia and Azerbaijan.  His Taliban guerillas are attacking NATO supply convoys traveling from Pakistan to Afghanistan and they recently struck a major logistics depot in the Pakistani town of Peshawar. 

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 26, 2008

Bypassing NATO?: Ukraine and Georgia Seek to Strengthen Ties with U.S.

By Peter Cassata

Will the U.S. extend security guarantees to Georgia and Ukraine on a bilateral basis?  With NATO MAPs not on the table for the foreseeable future, pacts with the U.S. are emerging in both countries.  However, Ukraine’s is nonbinding, and as my colleague James Joyner points out, Georgia’s seems largely symbolic.  RFE/RL ran two articles about […]

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 22, 2008

Rethinking NATO’s Strategic Concept

By David Capezza

When members of a strained Alliance convene in Strasbourg, France and Kehl, Germany for the 60th Anniversary of NATO it will have been a decade since they last agreed upon a strategic vision for the alliance. 

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 20, 2008

NATO – Russia Diplomatic Relations Resume

By James Joyner

NATO and Russia are talking again for the first time since the August invasion of Georgia, AP reports. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Dmitry Rogozin, Moscow’s ambassador to the alliance, met over lunch Friday in the first high-level meeting after a four-month hiatus caused by the war.

NATO
Russia

New Atlanticist

Dec 18, 2008

NATO a House Divided Against Itself?

By James Joyner

NATO must “find a political voice or collapse,” says Times of London defense editor Michael Evans.  “It has become so multi-tasked, so desperate to get involved in everything from cyber warfare to anti-piracy and missile defence, let alone a hugely draining and complex campaign in Afghanistan, that it has lost its way.”

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 11, 2008

Fixing NATO

By James Joyner

“What About NATO?” asks an unsigned Economist editorial, with the ambitious subhead “How the alliance should move forward.” Its premise is that the Georgia crisis demonstrated NATO’s lack of will to stand up to Russian aggression and created serious doubts among the Alliance’s new members, especially “Poles, Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians” and that therefore “NATO’s […]

NATO
Security & Defense

Experts

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