Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Explore the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s latest insights, commentary, articles, media hits, and in-depth reports

All commentary & analysis

New Atlanticist

Sep 3, 2009

Washington’s Afghan Brawl

By Thomas Rid

The debate on the pros and cons of Afghanistan is raging inside the Beltway. And it is a bit unsettling. On the one side are those who say no, America has no national interests in Afghanistan — and yes, it’s a war of choice: let’s leave the hellhole and get out asap. On the other […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 3, 2009

When Tactics Displace Strategy

By Raymond Pritchett

ISAF’s mission is to help the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) defeat the insurgency threatening their country. Protecting the Afghan people is the mission. The Afghan people will decide who wins this fight, and we (GIROA and ISAF) are in a struggle for their support. The effort to gain and maintain that support must inform […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2009

NATO’s Afghanistan Dilemma

By Harlan Ullman

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, has just submitted his first assessment of what needs to be done to turn the tide in that battered and war-torn nation long known as the graveyard of empires dating back to Alexander. While classified, that assessment summarizes the situation as “serious but still […]

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2009

Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nuclear War

By Bernard Finel

As the foreign policy community has started to seriously question whether the war in Afghanistan serves America’s strategic interests, regional experts Jari Lindholm and Joshua Foust have offered up a new rationale: preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.

Afghanistan India

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2009

Afghanistan War All Over But The Shooting

By Judah Grunstein

Does the U.S. have a vital strategic interest in Afghanistan-Pakistan that justifies our continued military presence there? Sadly, the answer is No.

Afghanistan Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 31, 2009

Afghanistan: New Strategy or “New Math”?

By Don Snow

It is being reported that the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, is planning what is variously described as a “new strategy” for dealing with the Taliban or as simply a refinement of the current AfPak strategy based in counterinsurgency doctrine.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 31, 2009

Afghanistan’s Opportunity Costs

By Paul Bauman

The Afghan debate in the blogosphere is reaching new heights of late, mainly due to the recent Afghan elections and Admiral Mullen’s comments concerning the deteriorating US position vis-à-vis the Taliban.  One issue that seems to be lost in this discussion is the opportunity cost of US involvement in Afghanistan. 

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 28, 2009

US-China Climate Accord a Game-Changer

By Banning Garrett and Jonathan Adams

Did the United States and China recently take a game-changing step on climate change and clean energy? Quite possibly so.

New Atlanticist

Aug 28, 2009

Azerbaijan Key Caspian Energy Player

By Alexandros Petersen

Associate Director of the Eurasia Energy Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Alexandros Petersen, spoke with Trend Capital in an exclusive interview.

New Atlanticist

Aug 26, 2009

Pakistan: Reason for a Glimmer of Optimism?

By Harlan Ullman

Despite a continuing flow of depressing reports from Pakistan about the safety and security of this strategically vital American ally, on the eve of President Asif Ali Zardari’s first anniversary as president, the latest news, at least anecdotally, offers a glimmer of optimism. Predictions of dire outcomes leading to a failed government overthrown by an […]

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 24, 2009

Afghanistan: War of Necessity?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Afghanistan is not only President Obama’s war, but it’s also what he now calls “a war of necessity.” But for Richard Haass, the head of the Council on Foreign Relations who was head of policy planning at the State Department in the run-up to the Iraq War and who voted for Obama, Afghanistan is a […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 24, 2009

Hillary Clinton’s Quiet Revolution?

By James Joyner

David Rothkopf argues that, while the commentariet is distracted by Hillary Clinton’s celebrity, the new secretary of state is “overseeing what may be the most profound changes in U.S. foreign policy in two decades — a transformation that may render the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush mere side notes in a long transition […]

New Atlanticist

Aug 21, 2009

Afghanistan Effort Shooting Behind a Moving Target

By James Easaw

A wise man once said “we can’t kill our way to victory” in Afghanistan.  And, I might add, we can’t keep shooting behind a moving target either.  If you want to hit a moving target, you have to lead it.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 20, 2009

An Alternative Strategy for Afghanistan

By Bernard Finel

One of my great frustrations in becoming more involved in the debate over Afghanistan policy and the utility of population-centric counter-insurgency (COIN) theory is how ruthlessly the pro-escalation side of the debate has sought to caricature the position of the skeptics.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 14, 2009

Pakistan Nukes Misfire

By Shuja Nawaz

Few issues grab more attention on the global stage today than the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. The assumption in the West has always been that Pakistan cannot adequately safeguard these weapons and that radical Islamists will grab them, putting Western interests at risk in the region.

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 14, 2009

German Terrorists Wanted to Kill Americans

By James Joyner

A foiled German terrorist plot against airports, military bases and off duty hangouts of American soldiers was motivated by Islamist zeal and hatred of American foreign policy, the group’s leader has revealed. Their intent was to kill as many Americans as possible to punish us for an alleged “war against Islam.”

Germany

New Atlanticist

Aug 13, 2009

Outside Intervention in Internal Wars

By Don Snow

The most ignored but arguably the most important factor militating against American success in Afghanistan is the dynamic of outside intervention in internal wars. The experience of foreign countries intervening in other people’s civil conflicts is, to put it mildly, dismal.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 12, 2009

Afghanistan Debate Intensifies

By James Joyner

The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan is the latest senior official calling for additional resources for the effort there.  Meanwhile, the debate over whether NATO should continue its mission at all has taken off.

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Aug 12, 2009

How Secure are Pakistan’s Nukes?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Is Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal theft-proof? Former President Pervez Musharraf and his successor Asif Ali Zardari and their army and intelligence chiefs repeatedly have assured both the Bush and Obama administrations that their 80-odd nuclear weapons are as secure as the U.S. arsenal of some 7,000 city busters. The Pakistanis have separated warheads from delivery systems […]

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 12, 2009

National Security in the 21st century

By Harlan Ullman

Last Sunday Barack Obama’s national security adviser, retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, made the television morning talk show rounds. Perhaps the most provocative question fired at him was why he was playing a far less visible – and critics would add even an invisible – role than his more famous predecessors such as Henry […]

NATO Security & Defense
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