Europe & Eurasia

France and Britain spark row with NATO

By  Maria Golovnina, Reuters

From Maria Golovnina, Reuters:  France and Britain, who first launched air attacks on Libya in coalition with the United States, said on Tuesday NATO must step up bombing of Muammar Gaddafi’s heavy weapons to protect civilians. NATO took over air operations from the three nations on March 31 but heavy government bombardment of the besieged western city […]

Will the Libya intervention bring the end of NATO?

By Anne Applebaum, the Washington Post

From Anne Applebaum, the Washington Post:  Two very important NATO members, Germany and Turkey, openly oppose the Libya mission and are refusing to play any operational role. A number of smaller members have made their objections known behind the scenes and aren’t sending anything much beyond the odd crate of food. The NATO secretary general […]

Germany and Libya

By Charlemagne, the Economist

Tensions emerge in NATO’s Libya mission

By the Financial Times

Russia wants joint “red-button” control over NATO missile defense system

By Simone Baribeau and Henry Meyer, Bloomberg

From Simone Baribeau and Henry Meyer, Bloomberg: Russia wants to join in the planned U.S. missile shield in Europe with “red-button” rights to launch strikes at incoming weapons, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said. Russia, which is pursuing talks on the issue with the U.S., will only accept an agreement that allows it to have a […]

British Say NATO Faces Jet Shortage

By Alistair MacDonald and Stephen Fidler, the Wall Street Journal

From Alistair MacDonald and Stephen Fidler, the Wall Street Journal:  The U.S. pullout from the front line of military activity in Libya has left a shortage of ground-attack jets, prompting the British government to pressure its European allies to send more aircraft into the theater.

Britain Seeks Greater Pakistani Role in Securing Domestic Security Issues

By Luv Puri

The writing on the wall was clear when the British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Pakistan. The main agenda of the prime minister’s visit was to repair the soured relations between Britain and Pakistan. The relations dipped last year during the last visit of British Prime Minister to India when he lambasted Pakistani government for […]

Moving toward a joint NATO-Russia missile defense center

By Madeline Albright and Igor Ivanov, the International Herald Tribune

From Madeline Albright and Igor Ivanov, the International Herald Tribune:  Moscow and Washington need a better understanding on missile defense, which otherwise could stall further nuclear reductions.

Germany willing to participate in EU mission in Libya

By Spiegel

From Spiegel:  In a Thursday interview with the television channel N24, [German Foreign Minister Guido] Westerwelle said that Germany would take part in a European Union humanitarian mission should such an operation come to pass.