Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Lord Robertson: Time for Grown-up Argument on NATO Resources

By James Joyner

Lord Robertson believes that it is time for NATO to take "a less gentlemanly approach to capabilities" and to "be honest and brutal" that much of the current defense budgets are "a pure waste of taxpayer’s money."

Lord Robertson: If We Lose in Afghanistan, They Will Be Back Over Here

By James Joyner

Asked by Atlantic Council president Fred Kempe to explain to Europeans why they should continue fighting and dying in Afghanistan, Lord Robertson replied that the initial case was "If we don’t go to Afghanistan it will come to us."  Now, it’s, "If you lose there, they will be back over here again" as they were […]

Lord Robertson: NATO on Edge of a Precipice

By James Joyner

Lord George Robertson, NATO Secretary General from 1999 to 2004, says that the Alliance and its constituent members are "on the edge of a precipice looking down on a world of growing disorder and discontent and only blunt talk and straight language will save us from falling over."

Dutch Afghanistan Exit a Game Changer

By Julian Lindley-French and Kurt Volker

The Dutch Government has fallen over Afghanistan. As a result the August 2010 withdrawal of Dutch forces from Uruzghan, the Afghan province into which the Netherlands has invested money and lives for eight years, will be confirmed.

NATO’s Future: Realism Required

By James Joyner

In his speech on revising the NATO Strategic Concept, Defense Secretary Bob Gates termed European reluctance to adequately staff its militaries and shoulder a proportionate share of the operational burden "an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace."

Marja and the Battle for Helmand Province

By Don Snow

The battle for the Helmand provincial town/city (population around 80,000) is now well underway. It has been advertised as the center of the current “surge” in Afghanistan, an entirely unveiled reference to and comparison with the 2007 exercise in Iraq that lowered the level of violence there sufficiently.

Assessing Pakistan’s Crackdown on the Afghan Taliban

By Bernard Finel

Who knew it would turn out to be quite so simple to round up much of the senior leadership of the Afghan Taliban?

Jones: NATO Must be Lean, Agile, and Flexible

By James Joyner

In a provocative closed door session yesterday, National Security Advisor Jim Jones proclaimed that “NATO must be prepared to address, deny, and deter the full spectrum of threats, whether emanating from within Europe, at NATO’s boundaries, or far beyond NATO’s borders.”

Clinton: EU No Threat to NATO

By James Joyner

In her Atlantic Council speech on the future of NATO, Hillary Clinton declared unequivocally that the Alliance should work closely with the European Union on security issues, a welcome evolution in America’s foreign policy.

NATO Reform and Decision-Making

Edgar Buckley and Kurt Volker, members of the Strategic Advisors Group (SAG), outline four crucial areas of the NATO decision-making process that require immediate consideration for reform in the SAG issue brief “NATO Reform and Decision-Making.” Download the PDF

Article 5 and Strategic Reassurance

Edgar Buckley and Ioan Mircea Pascu, members of the Strategic Advisors Group (SAG), discuss the implications of the use of force, preemption, and assessment of new risks as it relates to the Strategic Concept in the SAG issue brief “Article 5 and Strategic Reassurance.” Download the PDF

Clinton on Russia and NATO

By James Joyner

Hillary Clinton addressed the Atlantic Council this evening on “The Future of NATO” as a kickoff to a conference on a new strategic concept for the sixty-year-old Alliance.   She worked very hard to square the circle on NATO-Russia relations, both advocating increased cooperation and leaving the door open for further contentious expansion.