Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Iraq Video: Collateral Murder? Or Fog of War?

By James Joyner

A disturbing video which seems to show American soldiers shooting unarmed civilians in Iraq — and to contradict official accounts of the incident back in 2007 — is making the rounds. CSM’s Dan Murphy has the backstory: A video released on the Internet Monday by WikiLeaks, a small nonprofit dedicated to publishing classified information from […]

Anti-American Posturing: The Root of All Our Problems

By Bernard Finel

In his New Atlanticist post, "Is Hamid Karzai Crazy?," James Joyner argues that the Afghan president’s recent statements about the presence of “foreigners” is just about Karzai bolstering his standing at home. This assessment is probably right, but the implied U.S. response — that we ought to do just slough it off — is problematic, […]

Is Hamid Karzai Crazy?

By James Joyner

On April Fools Day, Afghan President Hamid Karzai lashed out at "foreigners" who have been criticizing his corrupt, inept government, leveling bizarre charges that the rampant fraud in the recent elections was perpetrated by UN officials, the European Union, and other non-Afghans.   It was, alas, no joke. In addition to bringing the retort from Peter […]

Plea for Pakistan

By Harlan Ullman

Last week’s visit of a very high level Pakistani delegation to Washington to meet with their opposite American numbers was at best a first step in a very long, testing and crucial journey essential to bringing a measure of peace, stability and even some prosperity to a volatile and dangerous region. To be blunt, the […]

OSCE: From Ambivalence to Relevance

By Boyko Nitzov

Dr. Boyko Nitzov, Director of Programs for the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, was interviewed by Aliyah Fridman for Azerbaijan’s News.Az.

Franco-Russian Warship Deal Meeting Little Resistance

By Vladimir Socor

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s US visit has carefully been protected against any fallout from his proposed sale of Mistral-class power-projection warships to Russia.

What’s the Big Fat Deal?

By Harlan Ullman

U.S. Vice President  Joe Biden’s crass congratulatory whisper to President Barack Obama after the House of Representative’s March 21 passage of the healthcare bill was one bookend for an extraordinary presidential week by any account. The other bookend was the president’s surprise visit to Afghanistan, ostensibly to deliver some tough love to President Hamid Karzai […]

Belarus Press Crackdown Puts Westernization on Hold

By Matthew Czekaj

In a bid to ensure its dubious status as “Europe’s last dictatorship,” Belarus has further constrained the rights of its independent journalists. 

Can Obama Save Sarkozy’s Presidency?

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

It will be the best of times and the worst of times for Presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy when they meet at the White House for dinner tonight.  Obama is riding a wave of momentum from the passage of historic health care legislation and agreement on an important arms control treaty with Russia.

Pakistan Army Back on Top — But in a New Way

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

It was Pakistan’s week in Washington with much talk of a new, deeper geopolitical understanding between the United States and a "major non-NATO ally." The star was Pakistan’s army  chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, and the country’s de facto politico-military power. The Pakistani army has taken over from ineffectual, corrupt civilian governments four times since independence. […]

Moscow Subway Bombing Puts Pressure on Putin

By James Joyner

Female suicide bombers have killed at least 38 and wounded many more in a terrorist attack on the Moscow subway this morning.  If, as all the circumstantial evidence currently points, this is the work of Chechen extremists, it will be a stern test for the Putin-Medvedev regime. Clifford Levy for NYT ("Subway Blasts Kill Dozens […]

Courting Pakistan: Forging a Strategic Partnership

By Shuja Nawaz

The United States and Pakistan is the world’s oddest couple, with an on-again, off-again friendship that has survived since the 1950s. Last week both sides completed a "strategic dialogue" in Washington amid fears that they were headed for another break-up.

Afghanistan Success Measured in Convoys, Not Car Bombs

By Alexandros Petersen

On February 26, I woke up in Kabul to the sound of a suicide car bomb explosion two blocks away. I ate my full English breakfast amid cacophonous gunfire from the neighborhood park. The Taliban took responsibility for my wake-up call. It is these sorts of events that prompt analysts here to argue that despite […]

US-Pakistan Trust Deficit

By Harlan Ullman

President John F. Kennedy wittily observed that “the only thing worse than being an enemy of the United States was being an ally.” Beyond the humor, JFK was reminding people of the often harsh and unjust treatment America served up to its alleged friends. With the visit of a high-level Pakistani delegation to Washington Wednesday […]

Caspian Security Gambit

By Borut Grgic

The international diplomacy aimed at thwarting Iran’s nuclear program has produced no concrete results. Iran’s leaders, in particular President Ahmadinejad, are set on going nuclear, and doing it soon.

Estonian President Ilves: The Future of NATO

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves addressed the Atlantic Council on March 19 as part of the Global Leadership Series. Atlantic Council Board Director and CEO of LexisNexis, Andrew Prozes, provided introductory remarks while Frederick Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic, moderated the Q&A session.

The Latest Israeli Settlement Flap

By Don Snow

The Netanyahou government is at it again, this time in a more spectacular display of ham-handedness and arrogance than usual.