Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

A Constructivist Take on the Strait

By Max Tsung-chi Yu

In the 2007 article “Why We Fight over Foreign Policy” in the Hoover Institution journal Policy Review, Henry Nau writes: “Why do we disagree so stridently about foreign policy? An easy answer is because leaders lie about events aboard.”

The Americanization of Afghanistan Continues

By James Joyner

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and senior American officials have sought for months to allay European fears about an “Americanization” of the mission in Afghanistan.  Today, however, it became all but a fait accompli.

Challenges for U.S.-India Relations

By Habeeb Noor

India’s recent elections demonstrated the resiliency of its democratic system, bringing to power a stable and strong government for the first time in over a decade.  Manmohan Singh was given a decisive mandate to continue as prime minister, while the Communists and various regional parties that had previously stalled reforms were rendered insignificant.

French NATO Return: Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship?

By Steven Kramer

To what extent does French return to full NATO membership reflect a paradigm shift of French grand strategy?  After all, Charles de Gaulle’s withdrawal of French forces from NATO’s integrated military command (and his eviction of NATO headquarters from France) was the culmination of a fundamental policy reorientation begun in 1958 and a critical factor […]

Time for Peace in Kashmir

By Mansoor Ijaz

India’s recent elections have ushered in a historic opportunity to address the issue of Kashmir. Over 417 million voters turned out to give the world’s most populous democracy its most stable government ever. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the affable economist-turned-politician, should now turn Congress’s election mandate into an impetus for making unprecedented decisions on national […]

Atlantic Council Briefs NATO Secretary General-Designate

The Atlantic Council’s International Security Program hosted former Danish Prime Minister and NATO Secretary General-designate Anders Fogh Rasmussen for an all-day transition seminar.

India’s Election Surprise: What it Means for India and South Asia

By Basharat Peer

On a late April afternoon in Lucknow, the capital of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, I met a rickshaw puller, a man who made $3 a day pedaling passengers through aggressive traffic and temperatures as high as 120 F. He was among the hundreds of millions of Indian poor and also on the lowest […]

McChrystal, COIN and Drones

By Bernard Finel

The firing of General McKiernan in Afghanistan and his replacement with General McChrystal has prompted some interested debate and discussion. Three of the arguments that emerged are of particular interest and deserve further comment.

U.S. Military: Future Scenarios

By Derek Reveron

The U.S. Department of Defense has begun its quadrennial defense review (QDR) with the goal of assessing the threats and challenges facing the United States in order to balance strategies, capabilities and forces.  This is the fourth QDR and the results will not be known or released until early 2010.

NATO Should Help in Pakistan

By Leo Michel and Shuja Nawaz

Pakistan needs help.  President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who were publicly urged last month by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to “recognize the real threats to their country,” have sent a considerable military force to staunch the spreading extremist threat in the Swat region near Afghanistan.

What is the Threat in Pakistan?

By Bernard Finel

Andrew Sullivan approvingly quotes an essay by Professor Manan Ahmed that attacks the claim that Pakistan is a failed state.

New Central Asia, Caucasus Funding Effective?

By Peter Cassata

The State Department’s proposed budget for the fiscal year starting in October 2009 includes significant increases in economic aid for Central Asian countries as well as a net reduction in the combined amount given to Azerbaijan and Armenia.  Questions about the aid’s effectiveness linger.

In Pakistan, Great Expectations … As Yet Unfulfilled

By Shuja Nawaz

Last week’s tripartite summit in Washington, D.C. during which President Barack Obama hosted President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan was a lot like a Chinese meal.

Afghanistan Commander Replaced

By James Joyner

The United States is making a shocking shake-up in the leadership of the Afghanistan mission, replacing General David McKiernan with Lt. General Stanley McChrystal, according to various reports.  McKiernan has been in his post less than a year.

Pakistan: Too Big To Fail

By Jonathan Paris

Hardly a day goes by without reports highlighting Pakistan’s mounting instability or the growing strength of the Taliban inside its troubled borders. From the media and high-profile observers alike, doomsday scenarios abound. U.S. army general David Petraeus has called the Taliban an “existential threat” to the Pakistani state. His adviser on counterinsurgency in Iraq, David […]