Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Afghan Quagmire

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

"The Endless Game" cartoon in the Financial Times showed U.S. President Barack Obama and a Taliban insurgent batting back and forth a coffin-shaped projectile over the smoking ruin of a building. Another in the International Herald Tribune has U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal boarding a U.S. transport as an Afghan soldier waves goodbye. Atop a […]

A Formula to Fix America’s Pakistan Policy

By Shuja Nawaz

The Obama administration coined a new phrase upon taking office, "AfPak," to refer to the importance of tackling Afghanistan and Pakistan’s problems in a coherent way. With the firing of General Stanley McChrystal, it’s clear the White House is reformulating its policy toward the Karzai government in Kabul. But what has happened to Pakistan policy? […]

9 Reasons U.S. is Losing in Afghanistan

By Harlan Ullman

Early in 2008, the Atlantic Council released a report over the signature of its chairman, retired U.S. Marine Gen. James L. Jones that began, “Make no mistake: NATO is not winning in Afghanistan.” After a firestorm of protest from Brussels, the word “NATO” was changed to “the international community.” Legend has it that the report […]

Deciding on an OSCE Summit

In the issue brief “Behind the Eight Ball: Deciding on an OSCE Summit,” co-authored by the Chairman of the task force, Senator Chuck Hagel, Patriciu Eurasia Center Director Ross Wilson, and Vice President and International Security Program Director Damon Wilson argue that the U.S. focus on Central Asia since 9/11 through the prism of the […]

Uncertain Kyrgyzstan: Rebalancing US policy

The international community is failing to respond in ways commensurate with the crisis

Russian Spy Ring Arrested in USA

By James Joyner

Ten Russian agents posing as Americans and living  in the suburbs of DC, New York, and Boston for a decade to glean valuable intelligence have been arrested by the FBI. Scott Shane and Charlie Savage for NYT: An F.B.I. investigation that began at least seven years ago culminated with the arrest on Sunday of 10 […]

Where Do Russia and NATO Stand Now?

By Scott Bleiweis

Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s representative to NATO, speaks with Atlantic Council senior fellow Sarwar Kashmeri in the latest installment of the New Atlanticist Podcast Series.

Petraeus’ Afghanistan Reality

By Shuja Nawaz

President Obama’s decision to replace General Stanley McChrystal with Centcom commander General David Petraeus has unleashed a tidal wave of commentary, with expectations that the second coming of Petraeus will yield results in Afghanistan that perhaps were unattainable before. Nothing could be further from reality. Indeed, the underlying situation in Afghanistan and — don’t forget […]

McChrystal Out, Petraeus In

By James Joyner

As expected, President Obama has sacked  Stanley McChrystal, stripping him of the Afghanistan command for insubordination.  Unexpectedly, he replaced him with David Petraeus. While I’ve been critical of the administration’s handling of Afghanistan — as recently as this morning — this was a brilliant stroke.  And the speech itself struck all the right notes. I […]

Is Russia Resetting? The Limits of a Petro-State

By Robert Manning

Don’t look now, but Russian President Dimitry Medvedev’s visits this week to Silicon Valley and Washington appear part of a wider Russian rethinking of its predicament.  The operative word is thinking. That Medvedev would like to create a Russian Silicon Valley suggests a belated realization that Russia, the Petro-state, is not a recipe for a […]

A Possibly Dangerous Summer, Continued

By Harlan Ullman

The U.S. political system was designed by the best minds of the 18th century. But today, the issues and crises of the 21st century are profoundly more complex, numerous and interrelated. To be sure, this system has changed with the times. However, when faced with an unprecedented multitude of simultaneous challenges and crises, most with […]

Afghanistan: Time for Unified Policy

By James Joyner

General Stanley McChrystal’s widely-publicized comments deriding senior Obama administration officials and their roles in the Afghanistan strategy have, as he himself has acknowledged, "compromised the mission."   He’s meeting with said team this morning and could well be fired.  Regardless, it’s time to come up with a unified and coherent policy.

Turkey Bets on East Over West

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Geopolitical tectonic plates began grinding menacingly five years ago when Turkey embarked on negotiations for membership in the European Union but it didn’t take long for Ankara to conclude that EU was play acting. There was little appetite for adding 70 million Turkish Muslims (80 million by the end of a projected 10-year negotiation) to […]

McChrystal’s Loose Lips May Sink Afghan Ship

By James Joyner

General Stanley McChrystal, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, has been ordered home by an angry president after several intemperate remarks made in a Rolling Stone interview. The piece, "The Runaway General," originally scheduled to debut Friday, has been rushed online.   Phil Stewart and Adam Entous, reporting for Reuters, summarize the most controversial bits: […]

Russia’s Foreign Policy: What’s Next?

By Nikolas Gvosdev

When President Barack Obama welcomes President Dmitry Medvedev to the White House on June 24th, he should ask the Russian president one blunt question: What do you want? In the last several weeks, I’ve attended several meetings on and heard numerous commentaries about the U.S.-Russia relationship, and one consistent theme has resounded: what are the […]

China’s Renminbi Gambit

By James Joyner

Over the weekend, China announced just ahead of the Toronto G20 summit that it would "enhance the RMB exchange rate flexibility" in response to" the recent economic situation and financial market developments at home and abroad, and the balance of payments (BOP) situation" at home. What does this mean?

Gaza Flotilla Incident: Implications for Middle East Peace

By James Cook

As Israel prepares to conduct its official inquiry into the recent Israeli Defense Force (IDF) raid on the flotilla attempting to breach the blockade against Gaza, it is important to understand how this tragic incident affects U.S. national security interests in the Middle East.  The episode highlights the difficulty in balancing Israel’s legitimate security requirements […]

Blowback in Afghanistan?

By Don Snow

Whenever official Washington, be it the White House, the Pentagon, or the military, describe what is happening in Afghanistan, it is always discussed in terms of “progress.” This creates the mental construct that whatever is going on must be forward moving–we hardly ever think that progress can be negative. So, when things go well in […]

Borut Grgic: Azerbaijan as a Source for Natural Gas

By Borut Grgic

Borut Grgic, nonresident senior fellow at Atlantic Council, was recently interviewed by the Azeri Press Agency of Azerbaijan. The interview transcript is presented below. “Turkey is already over dependent on Russia, so Ankara is keen to receive gas from Azerbaijan” – Azerbaijan and Turkey have recently signed a package of agreements on gas supplies to […]

When Smart Power Meets Dumb Bureaucracies

By Derek Reveron

Prior to coming to office, the Obama team emphasized the importance of smart power. For example, now-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michelle Flournoy argued for establishing “a robust interagency process for strategy, planning, and budgeting that would enable the United States to assess long-term threats and opportunities, set clear priorities, allocate and manage risk, develop […]