Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

EU Hydra: Which Head to Talk To?

By Matthew Czekaj

Since the ratification of the EU Lisbon Treaty, a new joke has been circulating in Brussels: in response to Henry Kissinger’s inquiry as to who to call to speak to ‘Europe,’ that number finally exists.

Possible Deliverables at OSCE Summit in Kazakhstan: Part 1

By Vladimir Socor

Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE, to be crowned by the summit of 56 heads of state in Astana, can hardly ignore Russia’s challenges to the post-Cold War international order (EDM, July 27). Fortuitously, Kazakhstan’s chairmanship and the summit coincide with round anniversaries of the OSCE’s fundamental documents: the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the 1990 […]

Afghanistan’s Four Musketeers

By Harlan Ullman

The episode that led to the resignation of U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan has created an opportunity for constructing the foundation for a more stable region. Much will rest on the four U.S. flag and general officers with overarching responsibilities for the region and whether their […]

Sweden Developing Greater Regional Defense Role

By Magnus Nordenman

In August the sunny calm and quiet that is a Swedish summer will be shattered by the impact of Joint Direct Attack Munitions dropped by F-16CM Fighting Falcons from US Air Force Europe.

Secrecy and Strategy in Afghanistan

By Bernard Finel

I don’t condone leaking secrets. But nor do I condone a policy that can only work in secret. Yes, there are some narrow tactical initiatives that make sense as covert action. But, even then, secrecy is a wasting asset, and any strategy that requires secrecy in the long-term is likely doomed to failure. Our strategy […]

Moscow Uses Anti-Iran Sanctions as Bargaining Leverage on Washington

By Vladimir Socor

To hinder Iran’s uranium-enrichment program, the US has introduced sanctions that bar deliveries of gasoline and other refined oil products to Iran. The European Union is following the US lead in this case. Russia’s initial response is calculated to suggest that it does not consider itself bound

Elvis bin Laden

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The "Veterans Today" Network, a one-man show on the Internet created and run by Gordon Duff, a 100 percent disabled Marine Vietnam veteran, states flatly that 9/11 was a CIA/Mossad conspiracy and that Osama bin Laden wasn’t involved and died in 2001. This can easily be dismissed as yet another example of deliberately disseminated disinformation […]

Afghanistan Leaks Reignite Debate, Undermine Security

By James Joyner

The early consensus, thankfully, is that the leak of 92,000-odd classified intelligence documents contain little information of note to close observers.   As Tufts professor Daniel Drezner snarks, "So it turns out that the war in Afghanistan is not going well and Pakistan is playing a double game?  Well, knock me down with a feather!!" […]

Khakis over civvies: Posturing in Pakistan and India

By Barkha Dutt

India and the Afghanistan Conflict

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Naresh Chandra, former ambassador to the United States from India, speaks with Atlantic Council senior fellow Sarwar Kashmeri in the latest installment of the New Atlanticist Podcast Series. While Pakistan’s role in the Afghanistan conflict is well known, India’s interests there are less often discussed.

NATO’s Future Involves More Global Partnerships

By Ian Brzezinski

Ian Brzezinski, resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s International Security program, was recently interviewed about NATO’s current and future roles in global affairs.

India’s Patience Running Thin

By Mohan Guruswamy

What happened at the post-meeting press conference of the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers in Islamabad last week seemed to have come as a bit of a surprise to most observers here. On the other hand if recent events were objectively analysed what happened had to happen. Recent gains made by Pakistan despite its "running […]

Kayani and Pakistan’s Civil-Military Relations

By Shuja Nawaz

In a timely though perhaps overly dramatic move, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan announced last night on national television the extension of army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani for another three years beyond November this year, when his first term was to end. Timely, since any further delay in announcing it would have […]

The Peace Chimera: India and Pakistan

By Cyril Almeida

The India-Pakistan relationship has been fraught. But there are signs of a thaw emerging in what had been a frozen relationship ever since former President Pervez Musharraf’s back channel diplomacy faltered in 2007 as his political power began to wane. As a result, it took a major effort by both sides to reopen the dialogue. […]

Satellite Saga

By David Smith

The Paris Court of Commerce last week handed a victory to the Russian propaganda machine, allowing French satellite operator Eutelsat—one quarter French Government-owned—to bar Tbilisi-based First Caucasus Television from one of its broadcast satellites.  For now, this prevents First Caucasus from reaching most of its intended Russian-speaking audience.  Nonetheless, the station is determined to get […]

OSCE Meeting: Kazakhstan’s Triumph Leaves Much Work to be Done

By Jeffrey Lightfoot and Matt Czekaj

Last week’s informal ministerial meeting of the OSCE in Almaty, Kazakhstan resulted in two important decisions. First, the OSCE agreed to send 52 police officers to Kyrgyzstan to assist and monitor the local authorities in the aftermath of June’s interethnic violence in the south. Second, ministers agreed to convene a summit of heads of state […]

Azerbaijan Accession to NATO Long-Term Project

By Alexandros Petersen

News.Az interviews Alexandros Petersen, senior fellow at the Eurasia Centre at US think-tank the Atlantic Council. Do you view Azerbaijan as a NATO member in the nearest perspective? In the short-term, Azerbaijan will not be a NATO member for two reasons: the Alliance is wary of extending full membership to the South Caucasus countries due […]

800-pound gorillas and other critters

By Harlan Ullman

Despite ubiquitous references to 800-pound gorillas inhabiting imaginary rooms metaphorically constructed around highlighting or hiding critical issues, few people have had that pleasure in practice. Yet, our patois has accepted and accommodated this interesting turn of phrase to describe a decisive or compelling fact or reality that dominates a particular issue. To turn to the […]