Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Time For Some American Shock and Awe in Syria

By Sarwar Kashmeri

United States’ intelligence agencies and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are still not certain the Syrian government of President Assad has used chemical weapons against its opposition. Nothing has yet emerged from France, Germany or Britain to unequivocally confirm this charge either. But the clamor among the hawkish segment of Washington lawmakers to get the […]

After the Foreign Minister Meeting: Assessing NATO’s Priorities

By Jason Harmala

On April 25, the Atlantic Council held an off-the-record video conference with James Appathurai, NATO deputy assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy (PASP) and the secretary general’s special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, on NATO’s major priorities in the aftermath of the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting, which took place in […]

NATO condemns ‘in the strongest possible terms… North Korea’s provocative actions’

By NATO

Barroso: Alliance ‘between Europe and US is not against’ China

By Department of State

From Department of State:  Excerpt from remarks by European Commission President Manuel Barroso with Secretary of State John Kerry at meeting with European Commission Fellows.

How to End the War in Syria

By Rajan Menon

There have been persistent rumors that Jabhat al-Nusra, among the most effective militias fighting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is linked to Al Qaeda. That connection has now been confirmed. The head of al-Nusra’s Syrian branch, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, has declared his organization’s “allegiance” to Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s leader.

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

With ISAF’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 fast approaching, it is useful to look back and see what failures and successes there have been. Have certain challenges been overcome? How do the Afghans see ISAF’s mission? On April 17, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security hosted Major General Charles Gurganus, commanding general, […]

Stuxnet and the Dawn of Algorithmic Warfare

By Jason Healey

Though autonomous, destructive robots are a long-time, hackneyed science fiction plot, for some time, this new kind of warfare has been shifting from yesterday’s movie to today’s reality. But unforeseen by the imaginations of both headline and science fiction writers, it was not a missile-laden drone or humanoid Terminator that introduced this new kind of […]

NATO’s Evolving Partnership Portfolio in Asia

By Richard Weitz, World Policy Review

From Richard Weitz, World Policy Review:  NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen recently undertook a week-long visit to Japan and South Korea, highlighting NATO’s growing role in Asian security in partnership with nonmember governments.

To Stop North Korean Cyber Attacks, Start in Beijing

By Jason Healey

The recent cyber attacks on South Korea highlight four truths of cyber conflicts as they have actually been fought. The implications of three of them are obvious, the fourth not yet so. Such conflicts are disruptive, but far from warfare. And cyber conflicts are both easier to predict than popular myth has it and the […]

Strategy Session with Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Levan Dolidze

By Jason Harmala

On April 15, the Atlantic Council hosted Levan Dolidze, first deputy defense minister of Georgia, for a strategy session to discuss Georgia’s ongoing defense reform, bilateral defense cooperation with the United States, and Georgia’s role and future in NATO. Levan Dolidze discussed multiple security issues and shared his perspectives on the modernization of Georgian forces. […]

Strategy Session with SACEUR Nominee General Breedlove

By Jason Harmala

On April 15, 2013, the Atlantic Council hosted General Philip M. Breedlove, President Barack Obama’s nominee for Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and commander, US European Command (EUCOM), for a strategy session to discuss the challenges he would encounter in his new role.

Secretary General: NATO’s partnership with South Korea is ‘young,’ but ‘has great potential’

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO