United Kingdom

Czech Republic hosting exercise for NATO air forces in September

By CTK

From CTK:  Seventeen NATO countries have confirmed participation in an extensive air force exercise to be held in the Czech Republic in September, the sole such event the Alliance holds this year, Defence Ministry spokeswwman Jana Zechmeisterova has told CTK.

Surrender Not Britain’s Only Option

By Julian Lindley-French

Those of you of a certain vintage will remember those flinty, somewhat silly British war movies of the 1950s. The story line was always roughly the same; a plucky British soldier, invariably called Tommy, armed only with a broken toothbrush, elastic band and a piece of chewing gum would, after suffering much adversity, defeat an […]

European defense cooperation dependent on success of Franco-British security relationship

By Julian Lindley-French, the New Atlanticist

From Julian Lindley-French, the New Atlanticist:  [T]he London-Paris axis is Europe’s only true strategic defense relationship and thus critical to the future defense of Europe.

Euro-Realism 3: Defending Europe

By Julian Lindley-French

In one of those deliciously Anglo-French moments this week President Hollande took a swipe at the London Olympics and David Cameron. Stung by Bradley Wiggin’s Tour de France Champs Elysee victory Hollande said, “The British have rolled out a red carpet for French athletes to win medals. I thank them very much for that”. It […]

How far will US and European defense spending fall?

By Douglas Barrie, AOL Defense

From Douglas Barrie, AOL Defense:  While the January 2012 strategic guidance – "Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership" – cast "most European countries" as "producers of security rather than consumers of it," this was rather at odds with the concerns of former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Membership of committee preparing new French defense strategy disclosed

Senator Mikulski: The Collins-Lieberman cyber security bill and NATO

By Barbara Mikulski, Office of Senator Mikulski

From Barbara Mikulski, Office of Senator Mikulski:  I really worry about the possibility of an attack. We know that there are already attacks going on, particularly in our financial services.

Britain Adrift

By Fran Burwell

The country most at risk in the eurozone economic crisis is not Spain, Italy, or even Greece, but Britain. While attention has focused on countries that seem perpetually on the brink of sovereign default or banking collapses, the British government has embarked on a path that could lead it out of Europe, with profound consequences […]

Transatlantic free trade agreement could be worth two to three percent in GDP gains to EU and US

By Peter Westmacott, British Embassy

From Peter Westmacott, British Embassy: A deep, comprehensive, state of the art free trade and investment agreement between the European Union and the United States is, in my view, both the greatest challenge and the biggest prize on the trade policy market today. It is a chance for us to set the standard for 21st […]

British pilots flew US drones in NATO mission over Libya

By Alex Spillius, the Telegraph

From Alex Spillius, the Telegraph:  In a parliamentary answer, Lord Astor of Hever, under secretary of state at the Ministry of Defence, said drones belonging to the United States were operated by British pilots during the Nato operation in 2011.