Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Transatlantic Approaches to Security in an Evolving Arctic

By Jason Harmala

On November 17, the Atlantic Council hosted a part-day conference on Arctic security. The event began with a word of welcome by Board Director Sherri Goodman, and an introduction by Ambassador Wegger Chr. Strommen of Norway, who stressed the importance of Arctic issues not only to Norway, but to the world. 

Beginning of the End for Assad?

By Barbara Slavin

Actions by the Arab League this week have given a regional seal of approval to Syrian opposition forces and could mark the beginning of the end of the Assad family dictatorship that has ruled Syria for more than 40 years. Regional experts and members of the Syrian opposition expect the process to be long, complicated […]

Iran: Not Necessarily a Nuclear Apocalypse

By Harlan Ullman

Last week, the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency released an assessment of Iran’s nuclear programs. While not overly alarmist, the report warned that, based on inputs from nearly a dozen different national intelligence agencies, Iran was developing programs in virtually all categories essential for production of nuclear weapons as well missile delivery systems. Iran […]

The US-Turkey Missile Defense Agreement

On November 9, the Atlantic Council hosted an off-the-record roundtable discussion with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Eric Rubin and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Space and Defense Policy Frank Rose.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]