Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

NATO’s Future: An Adaptable and Unifying Strategic Concept

By David Capezza

Over the course of the last few years, NATO member states have been pondering the very future and relevance of the transatlantic organization.

Pakistan: Nervy One-Star

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

It was at the officers club in the military garrison town of Rawalpindi, a short drive from the capital of Islamabad. The one-star brigadier general, holding a glass of mango juice, asked for permission to speak to the three-star corps commander. They spoke in English as Pakistani generals are prone to do when speaking among […]

Developments in Pakistan Won’t Help Relationship with the U.S.

By Shuja Nawaz

Even as the recently released tell-all Obama’s Wars by Bob Woodward raises fresh doubts about the U.S.-Pakistan relationship and will likely stoke mistrust in the United States about Pakistan as a partner against the Afghan Taliban, a series of stories that paint the Pakistani army in a negative light will undoubtedly contribute to the tensions.

General Musharraf’s Return

By Shuja Nawaz

  "Today, God has given me the opportunity to set the tone for my political legacy. Come join me in changing Pakistan’s destiny. It is not an easy task but one we must work for, as Pakistan is ours. ‘All Pakistan Muslim League’ is our platform from where I will work tirelessly to serve Pakistan and […]

The Outlook for Unconventional Gas in Eurasia: Resources and Policies

By Boyko Nitzov

In a keynote speech before the Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum in Istanbul, Ambassador Richard Morningstar, the U.S. Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, reflected on how much has changed about Eurasian energy issues since his work in the Clinton Administration. “On the supply side, shale gas and other developments could emerge as real game […]

Pakistan Blocks NATO Supply Lines, Testing Fragile Relationship

By James Joyner

Pakistan has blocked NATO’s primary supply line into Afghanistan in retaliation for an air strike that killed three Pakistani paramilitaries. Reporting for FT, Farhan Bokhari notes that this will not have an immediate impact on operations but would if the embargo held for long, since "Most of the fuel, food and building materials for the […]

5 Questions for Kori Schake

By Jorge Benitez

Kori Schake is the former Director for Defense Strategy and Requirements at the National Security Council.  She is currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and an associate professor of international security studies at the United States Military Academy.  I had the opportunity to discuss her thoughts on some key issues of interest to […]

Afghanistan: In It To Win It?

By Kurt Volker

When Gen. David Petraeus assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, he delivered exactly the right message: “We are in this to win.” Surely, that message was welcomed by Afghan women who fear subjugation; by parents who fear seeing their daughters sprayed with acid for attending school; by decent people trying to […]

Averting Catastrophe in South Asia

By Harlan Ullman

We can joke that the United States and Great Britain are two nations divided by a common language. But the gap between the United States and Pakistan is neither humorous nor easily reconciled. Only a fundamental improvement in mutual understanding can rectify the enormous misunderstandings and misperceptions on both sides that threaten this crucial relationship […]

NATO 2020: SAG Strawman Strategic Concept

Julian Lindley-French and Yves Boyer have led a Strategic Advisors Group project called STRATCON 2010 to provide provocative ideas and fresh thinking concerning the NATO Strategic Concept.Download the PDF

NATO’s Relevance

By James Joyner

“Is NATO irrelevant?”   That’s a question that Harvard’s Steve Walt asked on his Foreign Policy blog last week and a major subtext of the NATO Beyond Afghanistan conference held yesterday at the Atlantic Council.