Europe & Eurasia

Ashton: To Secure Peace, Be Ready for Battle

By Catherine Ashton, Wall Street Journal

An effective and coherent security and defense policy is a necessity, not a luxury, for Europe.

NATO Secretary General: ‘Our European Allies Lack Critical Capability’

By Sam Jones, Financial Times

Europe must urgently face up to its responsibilities in defence, or face a security crisis on its borders and international marginalisation, according to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary general of Nato.

Ukraine’s Russian Deal: Not Really a Big Victory for Putin

By Adrian Karatnycky

Passions are flaring today – in the streets of Kyiv, and in government buildings across the European Union and in Washington – over yesterday’s announcement of Russian financial support for Ukraine. EU officials are issuing warnings that the deal is shortsighted and  will retard Ukraine’s modernization. Ukrainian opposition politicians and leaders of its mass protest […]

A Leadership Role for Greece

Roundtable discussion with Ambassador Anastasis Mitsialis, secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece On January 1, Greece will assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Relations Program hosted Ambassador Anastasis Mitsialis, secretary-general of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday for a roundtable discussion on […]

NATO Chief Hopes for New EU Defense Commitment

By Bryan McManus, AFP

NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen hopes EU leaders will commit to new military capabilities and cooperation at this week’s summit

NATO Commander Concerned at Russian Missile Deployment

By Sabine Siebold, Reuters

NATO’s military commander voiced concern on Tuesday at Russia’s deployment of Iskander missiles in its Baltic Sea territory of Kaliningrad

French Seek Permanent EU Defense Fund

By Hugh Carnegy, Financial Times

In an effort to put its allies on the spot, President François Hollande is poised to demand, at a Brussels summit on Thursday, that the EU sets up a permanent fund to finance operations such as France’s intervention in the Central African Republic.

Ukraine’s President Yanukovych: He Got Game

By Adrian Karatnycky

It’s been a pretty good two days for Ukraine’s embattled President Viktor Yanukovych, despite three weeks of massive protests against his reversal of plans to tighten cooperation with the European Union. Monday brought news that government-friendly candidates (most running as independents) won four out of five parliamentary by-elections, most of them in areas that should be […]

China Ascendant: Is Conflict Inevitable?

By Rajan Menon

Thucydides’ purpose in his great epic was to account for “what led to this great war falling upon the Hellenes.” He acknowledged that what we know as the Peloponnesian War was produced by many different disputes and depicted them masterfully, laying bare their specificities. But, in the opening pages, he warns us that dwelling on […]