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 9, 2011

Iran Nuclear Watchdog Details Pre-2003 Weapons Research

By Barbara Slavin

A new report on Iran’s nuclear programme provides substantial evidence that Iran carried out extensive research into how to make a nuclear weapon prior to 2003 but is shaky about how much work has continued. Citing “a wide variety of independent sources”, including material from 10 member states and from a foreign scientist who worked […]

Nuclear Nonproliferation Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Nov 8, 2011

Iran Nuclear Threat: What’s Next?

By Barbara Slavin

A new report released Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency makes clear that Tehran has carried out extensive research into making a nuclear weapon. But it does not explain what the United States and the rest of the world should do.  The Iranian government, according to U.S. intelligence officials, has not yet decided to […]

Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation

New Atlanticist

Nov 7, 2011

NATO ‘No Planning, No Discussion, No Thought’ of Syria Intervention

By James Joyner

NATO has had  “no planning, no discussion, and no thought” of action in Syria, declared Ivo Daalder, the US permanent representation to NATO. In a speech to the Atlantic Council on the eve of a meeting with President Obama and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Daalder focused on the successes and lessons learned from the operation […]

NATO Security & Defense
Transition Seminar with Mark Brzezinski, US Ambassador-Designate to the Kingdom of Sweden

Event Recap

Nov 7, 2011

Transition Seminar with Mark Brzezinski, US Ambassador-Designate to the Kingdom of Sweden

By Adrienne Chuck

On Monday, November 7, the Atlantic Council hosted US Ambassador-designate Mark Brzezinski for an off-the-record transition seminar. Seminar participants briefed Brzezinski on Swedish foreign and security policy, internal politics, economics, culture as well as how to succeed as an American ambassador to such a strategic ally.

Northern Europe United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Nov 4, 2011

Can Egypt Replicate Tunisia’s Success?

By Rena Zuabi

Parliamentary elections in Tunisia this past week shed an optimistic light over the future of the Arab Awakening. The elections met international standards for election transparency, voter turnout, and international oversight. All signs point to an enthusiastic and optimistic Tunisian public who gave overwhelming support to the moderate Islamist party, Ennahda. The well-known opposition party […]

North Africa

Event Recap

Nov 4, 2011

An Irreplaceable Alliance: The Impact of the Libya Mission on NATO

By James Joyner

On Monday, November 7, the Atlantic Council hosted a discussion with the US Ambassador to NATO, Ivo H. Daalder.

Libya NATO

New Atlanticist

Nov 3, 2011

Pakistan and India Cracking Barriers of the Mind

By Shuja Nawaz

About bloody time, some would say. The news that Pakistan’s cabinet has approved Most Favored Nation trade status for long-time adversary India will also be greeted by the usual wry comments by skeptics and cynics on both sides of this volatile border. But though Pakistan may not have broken any barriers it may have cracked […]

India Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Nov 2, 2011

As US Exits Iraq, “Endgame” in Afghanistan Remains Elusive

By Barbara Slavin

Washington’s failure to gain Iraqi approval for a significant U.S. military presence in that country beyond December could make it harder for Afghanistan to agree to a similar deployment beyond 2014. Vali Nasr, a former senior adviser to the State Department on Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the Iraq experience could be a “model” for Afghanistan. […]

Afghanistan Iraq

New Atlanticist

Nov 1, 2011

Protests of Summer 2012 Will Shape Decade to Come

By Paul Saffo

Occupy Wall Street is the latest – and most dramatic – instance of the unrest smoldering in the American zeitgeist since the 2008 financial crash. It is also something larger, a catalyst releasing social forces unseen since the 1960s. These forces will gain momentum over the next half year and converge in what is likely […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 1, 2011

Istanbul: The Search for Consensus

By Maleeha Lodhi

An orderly ‘transition’ in 2014, when American and Nato combat forces pull out from Afghanistan, rests on progress towards a negotiated political settlement. But a serious peace process to advance Afghan national ‘reconciliation’ has yet to get off the ground. That is why a regional conference that will convene in Istanbul on November 2 will […]

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Oct 26, 2011

Persistence Pays Off with “Rogue” Regimes

By Barbara Slavin

The United States and North Korea are resuming the joint search for U.S. soldiers still missing from the Korean War, one of the few positive areas of interaction between two countries estranged for more than 60 years. The announcement last week by the Pentagon came before two days of U.S.-North Korea talks in Geneva over […]

Korea

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2011

Iraq: A Trillion Dollars Worth of Nothing

By Sarwar Kashmeri

For many Americans, news that the nearly 9-year-old war in Iraq is finally over will evoke feelings of relief but also revulsion. Relief, for the families of the military women and men that are coming home. And revulsion, for the officials and politicians that lacked the courage to prevent this unnecessary war. For me personally, […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2011

As 2012 Polls Loom, Caution’s the Word for Obama Foreign Policy

By Barbara Slavin

U.S. presidents seeking a second term are not known for taking risks in foreign policy in election years. Ronald Reagan quickly withdrew U.S. troops from Lebanon in 1983, a year before he sought re-election, after the U.S. forces there became the target of bombings by Shiite militants. George W. Bush launched the war in Iraq […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 21, 2011

Taking Government Back

By Shuja Nawaz

The perhaps incorrectly-named Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States appears to be gaining momentum, and even gaining traction overseas. I say “incorrectly-named” since conversations with the protesters indicate that they wish to take back power from the current representatives of government and not just take over Wall Street. The movement contains a congeries […]

Counter-Piracy Task Force: Strategic Approaches to the Piracy Challenge

Event Recap

Oct 20, 2011

Counter-Piracy Task Force: Strategic Approaches to the Piracy Challenge

By Adrienne Chuck

The International Security Program and the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center launched the Atlantic Council Maritime Piracy Task Force, chaired by Atlantic Council Board Director Franklin D. Miller. This was the first in what will be a series of meetings addressing the challenge of piracy and possible strategic approaches.

Maritime Security Security & Defense

Event Recap

Oct 19, 2011

Strategy Session with General Abrial: The Run-Up to Chicago 2012—A Smart Defense Agenda

By Jason Harmala

On October 19, the Atlantic Council hosted an off-the-record strategy session with General Stéphane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. The session, entitled, “Preparing for Chicago 2012 – A Smart Defense Agenda,” focused on the individual components and overall implementation of a smart defense initiative for the months leading up to the May 2012 summit.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Oct 19, 2011

UN Rips Iran’s Human Rights Record in New Report

By Barbara Slavin

A forthcoming U.N. report, obtained by Foreign Policy in advance of its publication later this week, condemns the Iranian regime for wide-ranging human right abuses, including the secret killings of hundreds of prisoners under mysterious circumstances. The report, compiled by Ahmed Shaheed, the new U.N. “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the […]

Event Recap

Oct 18, 2011

Transatlantic Missile Defense: Phase II and the Lead Up to the NATO Chicago Summit

By Jason Harmala

On October 18, the Atlantic Council held its annual conference on transatlantic missile defense. This year’s conference focused on the progress of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA), the implementation of its second phase, and the future of transatlantic missile defense.

Missile Defense Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Oct 17, 2011

Will 3D Printing Change the World?

By Banning Garrett

Transformative technologies are the stuff of history. The steam engine, the light bulb, atomic energy, the microchip—to name a few—unalterably changed our world. Such breakthroughs often take decades from initial invention to changing the way we do things, however. And their potential impact can be nearly unimaginable early in the process. It is doubtful that Tim Berners-Lee […]

3D Printing

Issue Brief

Oct 17, 2011

Could 3D printing change the world?

By Thomas Campbell, Christopher Williams, Olga Ivanova, and Banning Garrett

Could 3D Printing Change the World? Technologies, Potential, and Implications of Additive Manufacturing explores the technology of AM and its broader implications.

Technology & Innovation
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