Program: Future Europe Initiative

German-American Partnership in Peril?

By James Joyner

In today’s Spiegel, Gregor Peter Schmitz asks, “Does the US Still Care about Germany?”  His starting point is Chancellor Angela Merkel’s wistful praise of a certain Atlantic Council chairman – and the fact that so few American politicians were there to hear her speech.

Comparing French and American Secondary Schools

By James Joyner

The blogosphere has had a bit of fun with a reports on the difficulty of the baccalauréat, the national qualification examination for entries into French universities.  The questions seem impossibly hard to some American eyes and raise questions about the comparative quality of the two school systems.

Iran’s Elections: What Now?

By James Joyner

The debate over the legitimacy of Iran’s elections are, in the end, a sideshow.   First, because the office of president is essentially powerless.  While President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the most visible face of the government, he’s not the one making key decisions on nuclear weapons, regional relations, or human rights. 

Europe Seeks Attention, Obama Wants Help

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

President Obama’s recent trip to the Middle East and Europe offered a clear contrast between the past and present priorities of U.S. foreign policy. Obama’s highly scrutinized and substantive trip to Saudi Arabia and Egypt reflects the fact that the greater Middle East is the strategic center of gravity for current U.S. foreign policy. By […]

Confidence Building between Turks and Iraqi Kurds

The Obama administration’s “responsible redeployment” from Iraq is made even more urgent by the requirements resulting from worsening conditions in Afghanistan and Pakistan. For redeployment to occur on scale and on schedule, the United States seeks an end-state in Iraq that is stable and at peace with its neighbors. Simmering sectarian violence is inevitable, but […]

Torture a Looming Crisis in Transatlantic Relations

By Bernard Finel

Blogger Andrew Sullivan has likened torture to a cancer on America’s democracy, that “metastasizes quickly and poisons everything it touches.”