Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Explore the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s latest insights, commentary, articles, media hits, and in-depth reports

All commentary & analysis

New Atlanticist

Feb 5, 2013

France’s Strategy for Success in Mali

By Sarwar Kashmeri

France’s military intervention is aimed at creating a stable state in Mali that is in French and EU strategic interests. What is France’s strategy in Mali? LTG Jean-Paul Perruche, former director-general EU Military Staff, in conversation with Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security and adjunct professor, Norwich University. (8 minutes)

France Sahel

New Atlanticist

Feb 4, 2013

Forget Asia: Time to Pivot to Europe

By Robert A. Manning

Don’t look now, but for all the buzz about the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, momentum is building on both sides of the Atlantic for a U.S.-EU free trade agreement that could be at least as consequential in shaping the world order. In fact, considering the messy geopolitical landscape with few […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2013

Ankara Embassy Bombing: Not Another Benghazi

By Ross Wilson

Once again, hearts and prayers go out to a victim of a terrorist assault on a US diplomatic establishment.  The February 1 suicide attack on the American embassy in Ankara claimed one wounded, a visiting Turkish journalist, and two dead–embassy security guard Mustafa Akarsu and the bomber himself. 

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2013

Turkey Needs NATO Just as Much as NATO Needs Turkey

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Dr. Soner Cagaptay from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy talks about the “New Turkey,” and its pivot to NATO with Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security and adjunct professor, Norwich University. (8 ½ minutes)

NATO Security & Defense
Nuclear ICBM

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2013

For a Better Nuclear Future, Move Beyond Global Zero

By Robert Manning

More than four years after President Barack Obama’s 2009 Prague speech declared the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide, the nuclear landscape has become more complex and precarious and shows little sign of movement toward abolition. The so-called global zero initiative has arguably been overtaken by countervailing nuclear realities. Yet the administration remains mired in […]

Nuclear Nonproliferation Security & Defense

Event Recap

Jan 31, 2013

China Beige Book Shows New Perspectives on Chinese Economy

On January 31, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security hosted a Cross-Strait Seminar Series public event featuring Leland Miller, president of The China Beige Book International, Albert Keidel, a nonresident senior fellow with the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, and Robert Goldberg, a principal with the Scowcroft Group. Mario Mancuso, a […]

China

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2013

Strategic Implications of the Euro Crisis

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

The crisis of the Eurozone is likely to have profound strategic implications that will impact Europe’s role in the world and the dynamism of the transatlantic alliance. While it is too early to know exactly how the crisis will shape relations between the United States and Europe, the issue deserves the attention of US policymakers […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 24, 2013

The French Mess in Mali and Libya

By Rajan Menon

If you want an illustration of the law of unintended consequences, look no further than Mali. The drama that’s been unfolding there over the past nine months, and that has taken a new turn in the past week, is a perfect illustration.

France Libya

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2013

Why a Grand Strategy Is Needed for Obama’s Second Term

By Anne-Marie Slaughter

First terms are about justifying your place in office. Second terms are about justifying your place in history.

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2013

A Security Vacuum in Obama Inaugural Address

By Kurt Volker

In his second inaugural address, President Obama offered these thoughts on winding down an age of conflict: “Enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.” And, he continued, “We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naive about the dangers we […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Jan 18, 2013

Guiding the US Army War College in an Age of Austerity

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Budget cutbacks, war weariness, a world of stateless actors, against whom conventional warfare seems to achieve little. These are the strategic realities faced by the new commandant of the US Army War College. MG Tony Cucolo III discusses his challenges with Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security and adjunct professor, Norwich […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 17, 2013

Pivot Toward Pacific not Away from Middle East

By Aaron Burgstein

Since the announced “pivot” to the Pacific, much hand-wringing and consternation has focused on what it means for the United States’ security relationships with Europe.

Middle East National Security

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2013

Shinzo Abe’s ASEAN Tour Stresses Regional Tension

By Robert Manning

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s trip to key ASEAN states Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand this week is a sign of the times in East Asia, one of tense Sino-Japanese relations, geopolitical competition, and strategic counterbalancing.

China Japan

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2013

In Disputes Over Asian Seas, Winner May Take Zilch

By Robert A. Manning

It may be Asia’s 21st century equivalent of the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand that sparked World War I. Growing tensions over territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas threaten to disrupt the oft-heralded Asian Century. Whatever the outcome, many see more than just competing nationalisms, the scars of national memory and the […]

China Japan

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2013

Murder in France, Fragile Opening in Turkey

By Ross Wilson

Who carried out the execution of three women prominent in the European branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Paris on January 9 and what was their intended message are unclear.

France Turkey
OECD aging.png

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2013

Glimpses of a Graying World: The Demographic Challenges of 2030

By Hanna Camp

Last month, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) unveiled its Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds report at a conference convened by the Atlantic Council. Previous reports sought to envision the world in 2025, 2020, 2015, and 2010.

New Atlanticist

Jan 10, 2013

Afghanistan Better Off Than It Was in 2001; Still Not Good Enough

By James Joyner

While NATO is far from achieving the objectives in Afghanistan it set out more than a decade ago, more progress has been made than is widely understood. So say distinguished diplomats from the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Atlantic Council distinguished fellow Franklin Kramer hosted James Dobbins, former US ambassador to the European Union; Ambassador Riaz Mohammad Khan, former […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Jan 9, 2013

In Syria, War is the New Normal

By Rajan Menon

After 22 months of civil war, in which an estimated 60,000 people have died, Syrian President Bashar Assad gave a defiant speech Sunday that ruled out negotiations with rebel fighters and made clear that he intends to remain in power as long as possible. Assad’s words came as no great surprise. Seasoned diplomats, including former […]

National Security Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 8, 2013

Economic, Not Security Strategy, Key for Stability in South China Sea

By Philip Haxel

For all of its economic dynamism, the regional stability of the Asia-Pacific is increasingly threatened by conflicting claims over small rocks and archipelagos in the South China Sea. However trivial these disputes may appear, a breakout into physical conflict would have massive ramifications for the US economy, as each year 1.2 trillion dollars in US […]

Economy & Business Maritime Security

New Atlanticist

Jan 3, 2013

Russia’s Ban on Adoptions a Sign that “Reset” Has Reached its Limits

By Anna Borshchevskaya

On December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children.

Russia
Load More

Newsletter

Stay connected with us by signing up for our weekly newsletter “The Strategist” to be notified of all upcoming events, new publications, recent media hits, and exclusive updates within the Scowcroft Center:

The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security works to develop sustainable, nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the United States and the world.

Learn more