Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

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

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New Atlanticist

Jun 29, 2011

Diplomatic Wounds Leave Half-Healed Scars

By Barbara Slavin

Turkey and Israel are close to resolving their dispute over last year’s flotilla fiasco, but the partnership that existed between them for more than a decade will almost certainly stay submerged. As a new flotilla of ships prepared to set sail for Gaza Tuesday, Turkish and Israeli officials and analysts said that only a major […]

Israel Turkey

New Atlanticist

Jun 27, 2011

Reaching Across the Border

By Raja Menon and Lalit Mansingh

Pakistan’s deceit in cocooning Osama bin Laden in Abottabad as well as the ISI support to the Mumbai attackers has angered Indian public opinion. Unfortunately, Pakistan is a geographical reality and it will always be a neighbour. Punishing Pakistan by not engaging it in areas of our national interest is therefore not wise. Given this, […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 27, 2011

After the bin Laden Raid

By Shuja Nawaz

For the second time in the life of the current government a parliamentary session has produced a unanimous “feel good” resolution, after what must have been serious prodding by the military. Private discussions again leaked badly to the media, making it difficult to ascertain what was really said, given that we cannot judge the motivations […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 22, 2011

NATO’s Surreal World

By Sarwar Kashmeri

From the International Herald Tribune, June 23, 2011: Has the Atlantic alliance outlived its usefulness? The British journalist and writer Geoffrey Wheatcroft raised that question in an opinion article (“Who needs NATO?,” June 16) that drew a strong reaction from Ivo H. Daalder, the U.S. permanent representative to NATO, who argued that the alliance is […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 21, 2011

A Tale of Two Gates

By Banning Garrett

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on June 10th painted a very grim picture of NATO’s possible future – and thus the future U.S. role in Europe and prospects for U.S.-European cooperation. Less than a week earlier, the same Secretary Gates had outlined a bullish future for the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific region – a U.S. […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 17, 2011

The Gates Speech Aftermath

By Nikolas Gvosdev

The “farewell address” delivered by outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to the North Atlantic Alliance last Friday was a stark warning that “business as usual” cannot continue much longer.

New Atlanticist

Jun 17, 2011

Could a Turkish Buffer Enable a New Syria?

By Anna Borshchevskaya

Almost 10,000 Syrian refugees have entered Turkey over the last several days, as the Syrian government escalates its crackdown on protesters. While this is a large number, the Turkish daily Posta suggests Ankara fears much worse—that a civil war in Syria could flood Turkey with 200,000 more refugees. During a recent summit in Ankara, Turkish […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 16, 2011

Soft Power Disarmament Will All End in Tiers

By Julian Lindley-French

Leiden. The Netherlands, 16 June. America’s greatest thinker, Groucho Marks, once famously said that military intelligence is a contradiction in terms. One might say the same about European strategic intelligence. I have now just about read every single European security and defence strategy available and they all share a profound similarity. The joke goes something […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2011

Exeunt Pakistan Experts, Pursued by Bear

By Shuja Nawaz

With apologies to Shakespeare’s for appropriating his memorable line from A Winter’s Tale, I worry about the state of Pakistan expertise that is fading from the scene in key Washington policy making positions.

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2011

Turkish Election: An AKP Victory with Limits

By Ross Wilson

The unprecedented third consecutive electoral victory won by Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Sunday’s parliamentary elections owes to a widespread feeling of satisfaction with eight years of the Erdogan government’s rule. According to preliminary results, the party won 50 percent of the vote. This was at the top end of expectations and exceeded […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2011

Goldilocks and Afghanistan: How Big a Withdrawal?

By Don Snow

President Obama’s stated promise to begin the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by July 2011, a commitment he made when he committed 30,000 additional troops to the war early in his presidency, is coming near. The major question is how large a withdrawal he will order, and what the consequences of whatever size drawdown […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 10, 2011

Tribute to Ron Asmus: Remembering an Architect of a Europe Whole and Free

By Damon Wilson

Today in Wroclaw, Poland, the Atlantic Council will posthumously award Ron Asmus its annual Freedom Award for his contribution to building a Europe whole, free and at peace. Many U.S. leaders played a critical role in advancing this vision and giving the United States a defining role in post-Cold War Europe. President George H.W. Bush, President Bill […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 9, 2011

Military Attack on Iran Recedes, but Tensions Remain High

By Barbara Slavin

The likelihood of a U.S. or Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear installations seems miniscule during the remaining months of the Barack Obama administration’s first term. The U.S. is focused on domestic economic problems, winding down wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and stabilising emerging democracies in Egypt and Tunisia. Israel is preoccupied with Arab […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 7, 2011

Russia Reset Gone Wild: European Arms Sales to Russia

By Ian Brzezinski

As NATO Ministers of Defense convene in Brussels on June 8 and 9th, they face a full plate. They will review the operations in Afghanistan and Libya. They will give thanks to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for his leadership, and they will address how the Alliance will sustain and exercise its capabilities in a […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 7, 2011

Gates to deliver provocative farewell speech to European allies

By Jorge Benitez

Beware Brussels; Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is coming to “put a bit of stick about.” Gates is planning to deliver a major speech with critical language while he is in Europe this week for his final meeting with NATO Defense Ministers.

New Atlanticist

Jun 6, 2011

Turkish Elections Primer

By Ross Wilson

Ross Wilson, director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council and a former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, provides this backgrounder on this weekend’s elections in a pivotal state.

New Atlanticist

Jun 6, 2011

Merkel’s Visit to Washington: Where do Germany and the US Stand?

By Sarwar Kashmeri

German Chancellor Merkel arrives in Washington this week to receive America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom. But is the German-American relationship heading upwind after Germany’s refusal to support the war in Libya, and an about turn on nuclear energy? How to interpret these developments?

New Atlanticist

Jun 6, 2011

D-Day: The High Water Mark of Anglo-American Defence Relations?

By Julian Lindley-French

D-Day. June 6. London. Good news – it is raining. Good to see the natural order restored. Back in 1944 Americans, Britons and Canadians were struggling ashore onto Norman beaches under heavy fire to rid Europe of the Nazis. On this day of days it is right and proper to look back and remember and […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jun 2, 2011

China Undercuts Sanctions on Iran

By Barbara Slavin

Since the failure of a brief effort at engaging Iran, the Obama administration has pivoted to economic pressure, piling sanction after sanction on the Islamic Republic to try to persuade it to curb a program that could give it the capacity to make nuclear weapons. Last week, the U.S. penalized seven foreign companies for selling […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 1, 2011

The 79th Day

By Harlan Ullman

Next Tuesday marks the 79th day of NATO’s military campaign to protect Libyan civilians and force Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to abdicate power. A dozen years ago, 78 days were required to compel then Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his army from Kosovo. The comparison is inexact as both crises are quite different. But, […]

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