Europe & Eurasia

Video: Interoperability, capabilities, and partnerships top priorities for new NATO commander

By NATO

From NATO:  General Jean-Paul Paloméros said on Monday (14 January) that his top three priorities as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation were to foster Allied interoperability and capabilities and bolstering cooperation with partners.

Mali: No way to go to a war going nowhere

By J. Peter Pham

French aircraft strafed Islamist rebels in Mali for the third day in a row on Sunday. Additional French troops arrived in the West African country’s capital to shore up its rickety transitional government in the face of an offensive by the militants who seized control of northern provinces last spring and have been imposing their […]

Murder in France, Fragile Opening in Turkey

By Ross Wilson

Who carried out the execution of three women prominent in the European branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Paris on January 9 and what was their intended message are unclear.

France launches air strikes in Mali against Islamist rebels

By Elizabeth Pineau and Bate Felix, Reuters

From Elizabeth Pineau and Bate Felix, Reuters:  France carried out air strikes against Islamist rebels in Mali on Friday as it began a military intervention intended to halt a drive southward by the militants who control the country’s desert north.

Atlanticist nominations offer Europe a valuable opportunity

By Philip Stevens, Financial Times

From Philip Stevens, Financial Times:  Mr Obama’s nominations of John Kerry to the state department and Chuck Hagel to the Pentagon would fill these two top posts with politicians that Europeans should clamour to do business with.

Security issues will test transatlantic co-operation in 2013

By Bruce Stokes, European Voice

From Bruce Stokes, European Voice:  Both Pew and GMF surveys show that Americans and Europeans continue to back NATO, but they want out of Afghanistan, currently a joint US-European military operation. How that disengagement is managed may shape future public support for NATO.

Britain faces intense debate over its nuclear weapons

By James Blitz, Financial Times

From James Blitz, Financial Times:  [A]s London struggles to regain control of its finances, debate is stirring about the affordability of the independent nuclear deterrent.

Parliament: Cyber attack could fatally compromise British military

By U.K. House of Commons

Can Anything Stop Europe Disarming?

By Julian Lindley-French

The world is playing stud poker, whilst Europe plays bad chess. Last week’s stern warning from US NATO Ambassador Ivo Daalder that Europeans should use the money saved by withdrawing from Afghanistan to reverse crippling defense cuts was surely just another tiresome American whinge? In fact Daalder is dead right.

Defense spending among E.U. member states at a record low

By Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune

From Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune:  At the end of this month, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, will release new figures on defense spending by the 28 Alliance members.