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 8, 2012

Afghanistan: End Game or No Game?

By Harlan Ullman

Last week was another roller coaster ride for international politics. Violence in Egypt; looming civil war in Syria; and threats and counter-threats over Iran’s nuclear intentions reverberated around the international security community intensifying the gathering sense of impending disaster. In Brussels at the NATO Defense Ministers’ meeting followed by the Munich Security Conference the next […]

Afghanistan NATO

MENASource

Feb 6, 2012

Can Egypt Avoid Pakistan’s Fate?

By Michele Dunne and Shuja Nawaz

One year after the revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian military is closing down civil society organizations and trying to manipulate the constitution-writing process to serve its narrow interests. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, where the military has also held sway for more than half the country’s existence — for much of that time, with […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2012

Post-American Iraq: Forgotten Piece of Land?

By Anna Borshchevskaya

The last convoy of US soldiers pulled out of Iraq on December 18, 2011, leaving Iraqis with mixed feelings: pride in gained sovereignty, but anxiety about sectarian violence and the inability of Iraq’s security forces to maintain peace on their own. While publically Iraqis may have supported the withdrawal, in private, they often expressed reservations. […]

Iraq

Event Recap

Feb 2, 2012

Strategy Session with Macedonian Foreign and Defense Ministers

By Jason Harmala

On Thursday, February 2, the Council hosted Minister Nikola Poposki and Minister Fatmir Besimi for an off-the-record strategy session to discuss Macedonia’s prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration in advance of May’s NATO Summit and in light of the recent International Court of Justice ruling on the name issue.

Eastern Europe European Union

Event Recap

Feb 1, 2012

Pandemics and the End of Globalization

By Adrienne Chuck

The Strategic Foresight Initiative and the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) held a joint workshop, “Pandemics and the End of Globalization” on February 1 to inform the NIC’s Global Trends 2030 report.

Event Recap

Jan 31, 2012

Strategy Session with the Norwegian Atlantic Committee

By Jason Harmala

On January 31, the International Security Program hosted a delegation from the Norwegian Atlantic Committee to discuss a range of issues including the NATO Chicago Summit in May and prospects for greater multilateral defenses and international cooperation in light of major fiscal stress on Western economies.

NATO Northern Europe
Managing US-Russian Relations During the Year of Political Transitions: A Perspective from Moscow

Event Recap

Jan 27, 2012

Managing US-Russian Relations During the Year of Political Transitions: A Perspective from Moscow

On January 27, the Atlantic Council held an off-the-record discussion on developments in Russia and in US-Russian relations with Dr. Sergey Rogov, the director for the Institute for US and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ambassador Richard Burt, Senior Advisor at McLarty Associates and member of the Atlantic Council’s Board of Directors, […]

Russia United States and Canada

Event Recap

Jan 25, 2012

Global Trends 2030: Urbanization Nexus

The Strategic Foresight Initiative and the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) held a joint workshop, “Urbanization Nexus” on January 25 to inform the NIC’s Global Trends 2030 report. What do urbanization trends mean for the world of 2030? Which will be the impact of resource constraints and demographic realities on urban and rural populations? What […]

Communicating with Terror: A Briefing and Discussion with the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications

Event Recap

Jan 24, 2012

Communicating with Terror: A Briefing and Discussion with the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications

By Adrienne Chuck

On January 24, the Atlantic Council welcomed Ambassador Richard LeBaron and his team from the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), a center within the Department of State, for a working lunch and discussion.

Event Recap

Jan 24, 2012

The Transatlantic Bargain in 2012: Still a Good Deal?

On January 24, the Atlantic Council hosted the Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic, H.E. Alexandr Vondra. He offered a central European perspective on the future of the transatlantic partnership and the key issues facing the alliance in the run-up to the NATO Chicago Summit.

Central Europe NATO

FutureSource

Jan 23, 2012

In Search of Sand Piles and Butterflies

By Banning Garrett

“Disruptive change” that produces “strategic shocks” has become an increasing concern for policymakers, shaken by momentous events of the last couple of decades that were not on their radar screens – from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the 2008 financial crisis and the “Arab Spring.”

New Atlanticist

Jan 20, 2012

Empathy with the Ayatollah

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

“Empathize with your enemy.” It is the first of eleven lessons offered by the former US Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara in the award-winning 2002 documentary “Fog of War.”

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 12, 2012

A More Practical Approach To National Sovereignty

By James Joyner

Dutch defense minister Hans Hillen argues that transatlantic defense cooperation must be deepened and that this requires “a more practical approach to national sovereignty.”

Event Recap

Jan 12, 2012

How to Keep Transatlantic Security AAA: Outsmarting the Crisis by Thinking Beyond Institutional Lines

On January 12, the Atlantic Council hosted H.E. Hans Hillen, the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, for remarks on NATO defense spending in the context of the Eurozone crisis and the transatlantic economic downturn.

NATO Security & Defense
Strategy Session with Norwegian Minister of Defence, Espen Barth Eide

Event Recap

Jan 12, 2012

Strategy Session with Norwegian Minister of Defence, Espen Barth Eide

By Jason Harmala

On January 12, 2012, the Atlantic Council welcomed Norwegian Minister of Defence, H.E. Espen Barth Eide for a strategy session to discuss the implications of the financial crisis in Europe on transatlantic security.

Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2012

Obama Administration Edges Toward Iran Regime Change

By Barbara Slavin

The Barack Obama administration is increasingly giving the impression that it supports a policy of regime change against Iran – a policy that could backfire and convince Iran to build nuclear weapons. Senior U.S. officials have suggested recently that mounting economic sanctions are meant to “tighten the noose” around the Iranian government. The Washington Post […]

A New World of Global Migration 2030

Event Recap

Jan 11, 2012

A New World of Global Migration 2030

By Jason Harmala

What will be the drivers of global migration in 2030? What will be the reactions – political, economic, and social – of countries that receive migrants? The Strategic Foresight Initiative and the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) January 11th hosted the workshop “A New World of Global Migration” to inform the NICs global trends 2030 […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 9, 2012

The War on Terror is Over

By Magnus Nordenman

Historians may look back at 2011 as the year that the war on terror finally ended. Counterterrorism was not removed from America’s security policy tool box but it no longer serves as a strategic priority and no longer guides how the US structures its relations with nations around the world or thinks and plans for […]

Building Regional Security – Making Smart Defense Work in Practice

Event Recap

Jan 6, 2012

Building Regional Security – Making Smart Defense Work in Practice

By Jason Harmala

On Friday, January 6th, the Atlantic Council’s International Security Program hosted H.E. Rasa Juknevičiene, Minister of National Defense of Lithuania, and Baltic Ambassadors to the United States for an off-the-record strategy session.

Transcript

Jan 5, 2012

Transcript: NATO – The Case for Collective Defense in the 21st Century

Full transcript of a NATO Forum public event with the United Kingdom’s Secretary of Defense Philip Hammond.

NATO Security & Defense
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