Europe & Eurasia

Russia Reset Gone Wild: European Arms Sales to Russia

By Ian Brzezinski, the New Atlanticist

From Ian Brzezinski, the New Atlanticist:  In 2009, Central European allies were left unnerved after Russia conducted its large-scale Zapad military exercise along their frontiers.

French admiral suggests sharing aircraft carrier with Britain

By Thomas Harding, the Telegraph

From Thomas Harding, the Telegraph:  Admiral Pierre-Francois Forissier also disclosed that the French navy was amazed by the swath of cuts last year that severely reduced the Royal Navy with the axing of aircraft carriers and Harrier jump jets alongside warships.

First strikes by NATO helicopters against Gaddafi forces

By MSNBC

From MSNBC:  British Apache and French attack helicopters struck targets for the first time in NATO’s campaign in Libya, hitting Moammar Gadhafi’s troops early Saturday near a key coastal oil city, the alliance said. The action was a significant step-up in NATO’s operations and a major boost to Libyan rebels on the ground, just a […]

The Extradition of Mladic Will Test EU Intentions Towards Serbia

By Rennie Silva

In 1987, in a harbinger of the conflict that was soon to engulf Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic was dispatched to its southern province of Kosovo to diffuse rising ethnic tensions. Fatefully pledging before a Serbian audience that “no one will ever dare to beat you again”, his words instead unleashed a wave of nationalist fervor that […]

US official: “I keep having to tell Europeans that things are not so bad”

By Charlemagne, the Economist

From Charlemagne, the Economist:  Mr Obama’s tour comes when the two sides of the Atlantic are contending with the effects of the most acute economic crisis in eight decades.

Election in Turkey will have an impact across the Middle East

By Anthony Shadid, the New York Times

From Anthony Shadid, the New York Times:  As Turkey heads to an election on June 12 — the size of Mr. [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s majority the only question — the country faces an Arab Spring, which took it by surprise

First images of Western “boots on the ground” near Misrata battlelines

By Tony Birtley, Al Jazeera

Op commander sees possible mission for NATO troops in post-Gaddafi Libya

By Tsvetelia Tsolova, Reuters

From Tsvetelia Tsolova, Reuters:  U.S. Admiral Samuel Locklear, commander of the Joint Operations Command at Naples conducting the Libya campaign, declined to comment whether NATO would expand its operation with forces on ground.