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

Apr 24, 2009

Pakistan Solution Begins in India

By Bernard Finel

Coming on the heels of the imposition of Sharia rule in the Swat Valley in Pakistan comes news that the Pakistani Taliban has seized a foothold in the Buner district, a mere 70 miles from the capital Islamabad. Worse, the Pakistani military seems largely unwilling to confront this rising Islamist tide.

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Apr 24, 2009

Tactical Options for Fighting Somali Pirates

By Raymond Pritchett

There have been a number of ideas floated regarding options for dealing with the pirate activity around the coast of Somalia.

Somalia

New Atlanticist

Apr 23, 2009

Pakistan Nearing Collapse

By James Joyner

“The move by Taliban-backed militants into the Buna district of northwestern Pakistan, closer than ever to Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, have prompted concerns both within the country and abroad that the nuclear-armed nation of 165 million is on the verge of inexorable collapse.” So begins a report from TIME‘s Aryn Baker.

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Apr 23, 2009

Optimism on Afghanistan

By James Joyner

This afternoon, Ashraf Ghani, former Afghan finance minister and member of the Atlantic Council International Advisory Board and Strategic Advisors Group, unveiled his report “A Ten-Year Framework for Afghanistan: Executing the Obama Plan and Beyond.”

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Apr 22, 2009

India’s Fragile Democracy

By Habeeb Noor

Elections are now underway in India and will be for the next month. While the particular method employed in the world’s largest parliamentary democracy may strike American as unusual, the system has largely worked. If underlying social schisms are not addressed, however, that may soon change.

New Atlanticist

Apr 21, 2009

Critical Pause in the Thai Political Crisis

By Catharin Dalpino

The round of political protests in Bangkok following the violent shut-down of the ASEAN-Plus-Three meeting have abated after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva issued an emergency decree, which is still in effect.

NATO Somali Pirates

New Atlanticist

Apr 19, 2009

NATO Foils Pirate Attacks

By James Joyner

NATO forces thwarted two pirate attacks over the weekend. BBC reports that an attempted attack on a Norwegian tanker was “foiled by NATO warships and helicopters after an overnight pursuit in the Gulf of Aden.”  Dutch commandos also freed 20 Yemeni fishermen who had been taken hostage, Reuters reports. 

Somalia

New Atlanticist

Apr 17, 2009

NATO Supply Route Through Caucasus Needed

By Tamerlan Vahabov

Instability along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is making alternative supply routes for NATO troops increasingly necessary.

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Apr 15, 2009

5 Questions for Robert Oakley

By James Joyner

Robert Oakley served as U.S. ambassador to Zaire (1979-82), Somalia (1982-84), and Pakistan (1988-92) and as Special Envoy to Somali (1992-1994) and directed State’s Office of Combatting Terrorism (1984-86).  I had the opportunity to get his thoughts on some key issues of interest to the Atlantic Council community.

New Atlanticist

Apr 13, 2009

Publicly Funded Energy Research Needed Yesterday

By Boyko Nitzov

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has been touted as a major step towards a more secure and cleaner energy future. This much is quite true. The question is, is the step big enough to span the void and aren’t we risking being pushed into it before the step could be actually […]

New Atlanticist

Apr 10, 2009

When Bubbles Burst: Daewoo All Over Again

By Peter Beck

I have been teaching a class called “The Global Marketplace” this semester, but often I begin class by stating, “Welcome back to `The Global Meltdown’ class.”  Instead of studying about rising trade and investment and economic integration, we discuss deglobalization and the prospects for a global depression. 

New Atlanticist

Apr 9, 2009

Central Asia Key to Afghan Success

By Borut Grgic and Alexandros Petersen

As the United States prepares to deploy an additional 17,000 troops to the troubled Afghan theater, Kyrgyzstan to the north vows to close the U.S. air base at Manas, considered vital for continued operations in Afghanistan.

New Atlanticist

Apr 8, 2009

Stopping a Nuclear North Korea and Iran

By Harlan Ullman

North Korea’s unsuccessful attempt to put a communications satellite in space last week was doubtlessly timed to throw a monkey wrench into President Barack Obama’s visit to Europe.

Korea

New Atlanticist

Apr 1, 2009

Russia Must Also Hit the Reset Button

By Damon Wilson

In London today, President Obama will begin to test whether he can hit the reset button in U.S.-Russian relations during his first bilateral meeting with President Medvedev.  This is not the first time the United States has tried to “reset” relations with a post-Soviet Moscow.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2009

Ricks’ The Gamble: Much Better Than Fiasco

By Magnus Nordenman

Thomas Ricks’ new book The Gamble is an excellent account of how the US strategy in Iraq changed in late 2006 in response to the near disaster that was the US occupation of Iraq starting in 2003.

New Atlanticist

Mar 28, 2009

Obama’s Afghanistan Plan: What’s So New About It?

By James Joyner

President Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan has won the backhanded praise of Hamid Karzai, who termed it “better than we were expecting.”  Gordon Brown has lauded the plan as well and called for NATO to do more.

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2009

Pakistan – USA Trust Gap Must be Closed

By Harlan Ullman

George Bernard Shaw quipped that England and America were two like nations divided by a common language.  Today, Pakistan and America are divided by far more than language. One of the most divisive dangers beyond al Qaeda and extremism is the looming trust deficit between Pakistan and America. 

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Mar 23, 2009

Counterinsurgency Trap: Future of the US Military

By Michael Cohen

Steven Metz, who teaches at the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, reports that he was attending a recent DoD symposium and that “everyone nodded when a speaker said that the threats of the future will be dispersed, non-state entities, but few seemed to understand that this obviates the very essence of American strategy and […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 23, 2009

Naval Transformation: Adding Ploughshares

By Derek Reveron

Much attention has been given to the ways militaries are changing focuses on the ground forces, which conduct peacekeeping, stability operations, and counterinsurgency. After all, NATO countries have more than 200,000 soldiers and marines deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. These ground forces have learned the hard lessons of stability operations and are re-equipping with new […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 20, 2009

Counterinsurgency Consensus Misguided

By Steve Hynd

John McCain and Joe Lieberman have an op-ed in the Washington Post  telling President Obama to…do exactly what he’s already doing in Afghanistan. McCain and Lieberman, the former the designated point man for neocon pressure to keep the Afghan occupation long and strong, have found themselves arguing against previous Obama administration rhetoric designed to keep […]

Afghanistan
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