Americas

Labor defense leader: “I want to make and buy British” tech and weapon systems

By Richard Norton-Taylor, the Guardian

From Richard Norton-Taylor, the Guardian:  Britain must adopt a new, pragmatic approach to the "special relationship" with the US that is based neither on ideology nor nostalgia, the shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy, will tell Americans in a speech in Washington.

Britain requests more US support for NATO mission in Libya

By Daniel Dombey and Kiran Stacey, the Financial Times

NATO Chief: Libya exposes Europe’s reliance on US power

By Pascal Mallet, AFP

Fun with slopegraphs: NATO defense spending as a percentage of GDP

By Gulliver, Ink Spots

From Gulliver, Ink Spots:  [I]t happens that in a decade of unprecedented global military expenditures and increased operational tempo and warfighting demands on Western countries, the point of highest average proportional spending by the relevant sub-groups was in 2001 — prior to the start of those operations!

Pentagon’s New Cyber Strategy

By Jason Healey, the New Atlanticist

From Jason Healey, the New Atlanticist:  The Department of Defense’s new cyber strategy is being released this afternoon and many cyber security professionals who read it may be disappointed that it does not say more.

NATO and Strategic Cyber Capabilities

By Jason Healey, the New Atlanticist

From Jason Healey, the New Atlanticist:  NATO must transform itself in order to deal with cyber threats and opportunities.

Lavrov confirms US recalled its own missile defense proposal

By Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring

From Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring:  Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, reacted harshly to a report in this space June 16 on the draft missile-defense agreement with the Russians that was rejected by the White House amid concerns it would limit U.S. missile defenses.

Vive la France

By David McCullough, the New York TImes

From David McCullough, the New York TImes:  [T]he ties that bind America and France are more important and infinitely more interesting than most of us know.