FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

Top Military Officer Identifies UK Mistakes and Makes Powerful Case for Strong Defense

New Atlanticist
Jul 16, 2025

Reading between the lines of the new France-UK nuclear entente

By
Léonie Allard

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer released a “truly historic” declaration on nuclear planning on July 10.

France
Nuclear Deterrence

Top Military Officer Identifies UK Mistakes and Makes Powerful Case for Strong Defense

New Atlanticist
May 27, 2025

British ambassador to the US: The UK must ‘become less dependent on America, while remaining inseparably linked’

By
Peter Mandelson

In speaking at the Atlantic Council’s 2025 Christopher J. Makins Lecture, Peter Mandelson outlined how the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe can foster peace through military, economic, and technological strength.

Conflict
Defense Industry

Top Military Officer Identifies UK Mistakes and Makes Powerful Case for Strong Defense

New Atlanticist
Jan 27, 2025

The case for a US-UK trade and investment agreement

By
L. Daniel Mullaney

As US President Donald Trump begins his second term, the United Kingdom is the right partner for the United States, and now is the right time for a deal.

Economy & Business
Politics & Diplomacy

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Tue, May 27, 2025 • 9:00 am ET

The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson on Britain in an enduring transatlantic relationship

British Ambassador to the United States The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson speaks at the 2025 Christopher J. Makins lecture to discuss the significance of the transatlantic relationship during this unprecedented geopolitical period.

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General Sir Nicholas Houghton, Chief of the UK Defense Staff. April 4, 2013

NATOSource

Jul 16, 2015

Top Military Officer Identifies UK Mistakes and Makes Powerful Case for Strong Defense

By Nicholas Houghton, Ministry of Defense

[F]or 25 years the United Kingdom, together with much of the Western world and most of our NATO Allies, has been investing less in our capacity to conduct serious war fighting.

NATO Security & Defense
UK Gen. Sir Nicholas Houghton and US Gen. Martin Dempsey, Jan. 22, 2015

NATOSource

Jul 16, 2015

UK Defense Chief Sees Air Force Combat Jet Fleet Stretched

By Robert Wall, Wall Street Journal

Britain’s top military officer said Wednesday the country’s fleet of combat jets is stretched to the limit and could struggle to take on additional roles in fighting Islamist extremists in the Middle East without scaling back elsewhere.

Iraq Syria
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, June 24, 2014

NATOSource

Jul 8, 2015

Britain Commits to Meeting NATO Defense Spending Pledge Through 2020

By George Osborne, Government of the United Kingdom

Britain has always been resolute in defence of liberty and the promotion of stability around the world. And with this government it will always remain so.

NATO Security & Defense
NATO BALTOPS Exercise, June 17, 2015

NATOSource

Jul 2, 2015

Commanders: NATO Navies Should Beef Up Against Russia

By AFP and NATO Maritime Command

From AFP:  NATO should beef up its maritime arm in response to the rising threat from an increasingly “bold” and “aggressive” Russia, commanders said Wednesday.

NATO Russia
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, May 10, 2015

NATOSource

Jun 30, 2015

The West Has to Act Now to Defend Ukraine

By Ivo Daalder and Malcolm Rifkind, Politico Europe

Unless Europe and the United States act swiftly, the situation in Ukraine is about to get worse — possibly a lot worse.

Russia Ukraine
Defense ministers of the Netherlands, US, Germany, and Norway, June 22, 2015

NATOSource

Jun 24, 2015

After Ukraine, NATO’s Chance for a New Normal

By Derek Chollet, Defense One

NATO’s responses over the last year have been reactive and by definition (when measured by budgets) temporary.

France Germany
UK Ministry of Defense Main Building, Jan. 24, 2013

NATOSource

Jun 15, 2015

UK Ministers Trying to Inflate Defense Budget to Meet NATO Pledge

By Elizabeth Rigby and Kiran Stacey, Financial Times

Ministers are stretching to the limit what can be counted as defence spending to shoehorn elements of intelligence and overseas aid into the military budget ahead of a Nato report.

NATO Security & Defense
David Cameron, Angela Merkel, and Barack Obama, June 4, 2014

NATOSource

Jun 10, 2015

NATO Publics Reluctant to Provide Military Aid to Allies Under Attack

By Katie Simmons, Bruce Stokes, and Jacob Poushter, Pew Research Center

Going forward, most NATO members are willing to provide economic aid to Ukraine and offer it NATO membership.

France Germany
Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama, June 17, 2015

NATOSource

Jun 9, 2015

Obama Again Urges Cameron to Keep NATO Defense Spending Commitment

By BBC

Barack Obama has pressed David Cameron to maintain Britain’s commitment to meeting the Nato target of spending 2% of GDP on defence.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 26, 2015

Western Failure on Iran Deal May Cause Sanctions to Unravel

By Ashish Kumar Sen

European Ambassadors see “erosion” of sanctions regime if US Congress is viewed as cause of deal’s failure Failure to secure a deal that limits Iran’s nuclear program in return for phased sanctions relief could unravel a crippling sanctions regime on the Islamic Republic if that outcome is perceived to be the West’s fault, two European […]

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