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

Nov 24, 2010

Rising India

By Ehsan Ahrari

From India’s point of view, President Barack Obama’s trip could not have come at a better time.  The "Obama glaze" or even "Obama magic" that brought him to office in 2009 is damaged, if not permanently gone after the "shellacking" he received during the mid-term elections. 

New Atlanticist

Nov 23, 2010

The Obama Visit to India: Looking Back

By Raja Menon

President Obama and Michelle won Indian hearts in the way he won the US presidential elections – with charm, wit and a rare way with words, which he interspersed with references to Gandhi, Vivekananda and Ambedkar. The people to people relationship is of huge significance, being the reason why India and the US are on […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 23, 2010

American Options Limited in Korea

By Patrick deGategno

Earlier today, North Korea killed two ROK marines and injured at least 16 others in an artillery barrage near the Yellow Sea’s Northern Limit Line.  South Korea has promised "stern, manifold retaliation" if it happens again. Meanwhile, the U.S. and others are still absorbing the implications of new information about advancements in North Korea’s nuclear […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 23, 2010

Enhancing NATO-EU Cooperation

By Stanley Sloan

The Atlantic Council hosted an excellent discussion on the eve of the NATO Lisbon Summit on the problems facing the alliance. In particular, it focused on the fact that transatlantic security cooperation remains handicapped by issues between Greece and Turkey that continue to block effective NATO/European Union collaboration. The panelists all appropriately agreed that the […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 22, 2010

Global Challenges Absent from New Strategic Concept

By Rob de Wijk

NATO’s new Strategic Concept seeks to explain how the Alliance will address 21st century security challenges including energy security, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to rogue actors, terrorism, and cyber security. But the document should also have taken into account the dramatic new security challenges that will change the world and will impact the […]

Report

Nov 22, 2010

Astana on the Atlantic: Transatlantic Strategy in Central Asia and the OSCE

The new report of the Eurasia Task Force, “Astana on the Atlantic: Transatlantic Strategy in Central Asia and the OSCE,” offers recommendations to the Obama Administration on the eve of the OSCE Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, in order to reposition the U.S. in Central Asia and build an enduring OSCE presence in the region.Download the […]

Central Asia OSCE

New Atlanticist

Nov 22, 2010

NATO Summit Reality Check: Brilliant Policy vs. Real World Resistance

By Kurt Volker

The recently concluded NATO summit did all the right things: outline an ambitious role for NATO in a complex world; renew and recalibrate NATO’s role in Afghanistan; relaunch the NATO-Russia Council; and even move the ball forward on missile defense. This will now be followed by negotiations on implementation documents. To someone who has worked […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2010

NATO’s Lisbon Summit: All the Right Words

By James Joyner

NATO’s Lisbon Summit exceeded all reasonable expectations.  Yet it leaves critical questions about the Alliance unanswered. Once upon a time, the meeting was supposed to launch a new NATO, building on the experience in Afghanistan and forging a path for the decade to come.  But the combination of disillusionment with that mission and the devastating […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2010

The Lisbon Summit: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

By Ian Brzezinski

Good:  The new Strategic Concept is a good document. It uses firm language to reassert the centrality of NATO’s Article 5 security commitment, affirm the Alliance’s role in guarding against today’s wide array of multi-dimensional threats, and formalize NATO’s roles in crisis management and prevention.

New Atlanticist

Nov 20, 2010

NATO Summit Reaction, Day 2

By Damon Wilson

On the second day of the NATO Summit in Lisbon, Allied leaders approved the Lisbon Declaration, providing an action plan to implement the Strategic Concept in the months ahead and agreed to reconvene in the United States in 2012. They also met with President Karzai and NATO’s partners in Afghanistan to endorse a strategy to […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 20, 2010

NATO Should Focus More on Conventional Arms Control in Europe

By Donald Bandler and Jakub Kulhanek

With the new strategic concept and a revitalized partnership with Russia at hand, it appears that the Alliance is poised to enter a new era with a regained sense of purpose in the aftermath of the Lisbon summit. However, as the West is bent on winding down its military presence in Afghanistan, NATO leaders are […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 19, 2010

NATO Summit Reaction, Day 1

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

Today in Lisbon, Alliance leaders met to approve a new Strategic Concept that reconfirms NATO’s purpose to safeguard members’ freedom and security and modernizes the Alliance to face new threats, with new capabilities and new partners. Atlantic Council team members offer their expert insights and analysis on the outcomes of the summit. Visit our online […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 19, 2010

NATO: New Strategic Concept, Same Old Alliance

By James Joyner

The long awaited new strategic concept, launching what has been termed "NATO 3.0," has been published under the banner "Active Engagement, Modern Defense." The document is ambitious, committing the "Alliance to prevent crises, manage conflicts and stabilize post-conflict situations, including by working more closely with our international partners, most importantly the United Nations and the […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 19, 2010

NATO’s Top Challenges

By Damon Wilson and Jeffrey Lightfoot

As Alliance leaders gather in Lisbon, they must be able to address these top challenges in order to declare Lisbon a success: Transition in Afghanistan: Will NATO project a united front on transition of the ISAF mission to Afghan security forces, or will the Allies appear to be rushing for the exits under political pressure […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Nov 19, 2010

NATO’s Defense Budgets 2011

By Simona Kordosova

As NATO leaders meet in Lisbon, their responsibility includes charting the Alliance’s course in an age of austerity. The fiscal crisis that swept across both sides of the Atlantic put enormous pressure on defense budgets. As NATO leaders approve a new Strategic Concept and commit to strengthen capabilities to guard against a new array of […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Nov 19, 2010

The G-20 Challenge and its Implications on NATO

By Jason Harmala

In the latest installment of the New Atlanticist Podcast Series Atlantic Council senior fellow Sarwar Kashmeri interviews George Magnus, Chief Economist of UBS Investment Bank. Magnus discusses the challenges of accommodating the separate economic agendas of the G-20 member countries and the possible implications on NATO’s thoughts about reaching out to the fast growing Asian […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 18, 2010

A Plan to Blunt the Impact on NATO of European Defence Cuts

By Hans Binnendijk and Richard Kugler

Austerity budgets in Europe will mean that key NATO members are going to cut their defence costs in ways that could damage the alliance’s military preparedness. Britain’s defence cuts could total as much as 20% by 2014-2015, and Germany and France plan to reduce their defence budgets by about 6% through 2013, and their forces […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 18, 2010

Breaking the Security Cooperation Logjam Between Russia and the West

By Tomáš Karásek and Jakub Kulhanek

NATO is gearing up to meet in Lisbon to sign off on its new strategic doctrine and Russia is in the spotlights again with a new offer of partnership with the Alliance in the pipelines. Yet, despite vague proclamations the current rapprochement on security matters lacks any solid foundation on which the West and Russia […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Nov 18, 2010

NATO’s Missing Agenda Item in Lisbon

By Ian Brzezinski

As NATO leaders prepare for their summit in Lisbon this week, attention has focused on the war in Afghanistan, approval of a new Strategic Concept (NATO’s roadmap for the future), and the challenge of sustaining the alliance’s military capabilities in an era of fiscal crisis. Missing from the agenda is the future of the U.S. […]

Issue Brief

Nov 18, 2010

NATO Missile Defense: Is Europe Ready?

By Edgar Buckley

Edgar Buckley, Atlantic Council Strategic Advisors Group member and former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defense Planning and Operations, published a Transatlantic Missile Defense issue brief titled “NATO Missile Defense: Is Europe Ready?” Download the PDF

Europe & Eurasia NATO
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