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

Jan 12, 2011

Déjà Vu, Again

By Shuja Nawaz

We have seen this movie before, under civilian and military governments‚ and it does not have a happy ending. Pakistan again stands at a precipice. While there is much to be said for the indomitable spirit of the Pakistani people‚ our leadership appears blindfolded and unworthy‚ focused only on the short-term.   In 2010‚ we […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 12, 2011

Continuing Instability in South Asia is in the Cards

By Gurmeet Kanwal

Though 2010 was relatively peaceful in South Asia – with the exception of the conflict in Afghanistan, the unstable regional security environment, India’s unresolved territorial and boundary disputes with China and Pakistan and continuing internal security challenges are a cause for concern.  After West Asia, this region is perhaps the most trouble prone in the […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2011

Pakistan Futures

By Raja Menon

Pakistan’s prospects have dimmed quite alarmingly over the past year. My book, The Long View from Delhi, written early last year, built a transparent structure for arriving at the possible scenarios for countries that will decide India’s Grand Strategy of Foreign Policy in 2025. Pakistan had hugely uncertain futures, swinging from a Pakistan Shining (9% […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2011

Pakistan: Living on the Edge

By Maleeha Lodhi

Worsening political turmoil and an unraveling economy cloud prospects for Pakistan’s stability in the year ahead. When the ruling coalition led by President Asif Zardari lost the support of two key allies the country plunged into a fresh political crisis. The defections left the government well short of a parliamentary majority and struggling to avert […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 10, 2011

AfPak Imbroglio

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

What does one call an impoverished nuclear weapons power where 80 percent of its 180 million people say things are moving in the wrong direction; 64 percent claim the United States is their enemy; 18 percent view al-Qaida favorably; almost 40 percent say they approve of al-Qaida’s 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers; and 56 […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 7, 2011

Defense Austerity, American Style

By James Joyner

 The age of austerity for NATO defense budgets is finally hitting the United States.   Here, though, it’s a bit different, with "cuts" coming in the Washington sense of "spending more than last year but less than projected." To be sure, this isn’t the impression one would get scanning the headlines.  NYT blares "Pentagon Seeks […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 7, 2011

Enterprise Incident: More Than Bad Judgment

By Robert Bracknell

The relief of the commanding officer of the Enterprise resounds far beyond the person of Capt. Owen Honors. It impacts a storied warship, the Navy and the nation – all of whom deserve better. Leaving aside the separate issue of the propriety of Capt. Honors’ conduct, I am perplexed at his failure to recognize how […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 6, 2011

British CHoD: Not a Time for Strategic Shrinkage

By James Joyner

UK defense chief General Sir David Richards declared that, despite painful cuts in his country’s military budget, they "will continue to be the best ally the United States could hope for." Richards made no bones about how painful austerity would be, noting that it will require manning a smaller force than he would like and […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jan 6, 2011

British Defense Chief: Afghanistan Situation ‘Radically Better’

By James Joyner

General Sir David Richards, the chief of Britain’s armed forces, told an Atlantic Council audience that the situation in Afghanistan is "radically better than it was in 2008," when he turned over command of the NATO mission. He noted that little has changed in terms of the strategic vision. The essential understanding of how to […]

United Kingdom

Event Recap

Jan 6, 2011

Russia Reset and Strategic Reassurance: The View from Tallinn

On January 6, the International Security Program hosted a roundtable on “Russia Reset and Strategic Reassurance: The View from Tallinn” with U.S. Ambassador to Estonia Michael C. Polt.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 5, 2011

Military Aid and Supplies for Pakistan

By Alan Kronstadt

Much has been spoken and written about the United states aid program for the Pakistan military and the sales or grants of material to the military in Pakistan since 2001. But specifics about the nature of the flows and their changes over time have not been understood widely. We are grateful for the following two […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 4, 2011

Myanmar Engagement: Time To Change Course

By Luv Puri

The recent elections in Myanmar, far from free and fair, have re-ignited the debate as to how the world should engage with the newly “elected” government. The political analysts and strategists are divided into two camps. The first deems the newly elected government a proxy of the military junta and therefore view any engagement as […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 3, 2011

Al-Qaida in Pakistan

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

U.S. policy in Pakistan is now stuck in a Catch-22 quagmire. Without Pakistan, there is no solution to the Afghan war. And even with Pakistan, the odds aren’t much better. Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the Afghan border, used by Taliban as safe havens, and by U.S. drones as Taliban targets, are gradually switching […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 22, 2010

5 Questions for Boro Vucinic

By Damon Wilson and Matthew Czekaj

Boro Vucinic has served as Montenegro’s minister of defense since November 2006.  We had the opportunity to get his thoughts on some key issues of interest to our community.

New Atlanticist

Dec 22, 2010

Pakistan At The Brink

By Harlan Ullman

To many observers, Pakistan has long been at the brink of an existential crisis, much of it due to a growing insurgency exacerbated by the war in Afghanistan. But now the economy is in crisis, too. The catastrophic floods have imploded the struggling economy raising the specter of frightening consequences. Compounding that crisis is uncertainty […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 20, 2010

Pakistan’s Extremist Havens

By James Joyner

Shuja Nawaz, director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, gave a long interview to PBS NewsHour on the subject "Pakistan’s Extremist Havens: What Options Does U.S. Have?"

New Atlanticist

Dec 14, 2010

AfPak After Holbrooke: Replacing an Irreplaceable Man

By Shuja Nawaz

The untimely passage of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke leaves big shoes to fill in the AfPak region. It may take two men to replace him. In a column that Holbrooke wrote for the Washington Post in March 2008, entitled "Hope in Pakistan: the problems are real, but so is progress" he captured the essence of the […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 14, 2010

Medvedev Frowns

By David Smith

“It’s a victory! We are hosting the 2018 World Cup,” a beaming Russian President Dmitry Medvedev tweeted his countrymen, moments after the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) made its December 2 announcement in Zurich. It was a big turnaround from the frown he wore just 24 hours earlier as he stormed off from the Astana Summit […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 13, 2010

Vietnam Syndrome?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. and NATO supremo in Afghanistan, is as well versed in the history of major post-World War II insurgencies as anyone alive today. From Lawrence of Arabia to Mao’s and Tito’s guerrilla triumphs to France’s 16 years of defeats in Indochina and Algeria, Petraeus knows it all — and […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 10, 2010

Taiwan’s Democracy at Home and Abroad: Implications of 2010 Municipal Elections for Cross-Strait Relations

By Patrick deGategno and Sam Dreiman

Taiwan’s recent municipal elections show a growing de facto consensus among Taiwan’s major parties that officially declaring independence is not an option and that closer economic and cultural ties with the Mainland are a must. According to a panel of experts speaking December 1 at the Atlantic Council, future Taiwan governments, whether led by Taiwan’s current ruling […]

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