FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

UK Defense Chief Sees Air Force Combat Jet Fleet Stretched

New Atlanticist
Sep 19, 2025

Three things to note in the UK’s new Defence Industrial Strategy

By
Deborah Cheverton

“Defence is an Engine for Growth,” according to an important new British military strategy published on September 8.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

UK Defense Chief Sees Air Force Combat Jet Fleet Stretched

New Atlanticist
Jul 17, 2025

Macron and Starmer have a plan to reset Anglo-French relations. What’s in this ‘Entente Industrielle’?

By
Philippe Dickinson

The French president’s three-day trip to the United Kingdom saw several notable and welcome announcements. But the real test will be what comes next.

Defense Industry
France

UK Defense Chief Sees Air Force Combat Jet Fleet Stretched

New Atlanticist
Jun 4, 2025

The UK Strategic Defence Review lays out an ambitious roadmap for reform. Will the government deliver?

By
AM Sir Christopher Harper, KBE, RAF (Ret.)

The review is a positive step toward revitalizing the United Kingdom’s defense posture, but its success will depend on funding and follow-through.

Conflict
Defense Industry

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Content

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 […]

France
Germany
British Prime Minister David Cameron, Sept. 19, 2014

NATOSource

May 22, 2015

Britain Resigns as a World Power

By Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post

[S]pending a few days recently in Britain, I was struck by just how parochial it has become. After an extraordinary 300-year run, Britain has essentially resigned as a global power.

NATO
Security & Defense
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Experts

Staff

Philippe Dickinson

Deputy Director

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Chinese East Asia

Executive Leadership Intensive participant

Katerina Elias-Trostmann

Director, Climate & Nature for Latin America, Salesforce

Millennium Leadership Program

Brazil Climate Change & Climate Action

Fellow

Wendy Hall

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoTech Center

Technology & Innovation
Brittan Heller

Fellow

Brittan Heller

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Americas General Africa

Fellow

Erwan Lagadec

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

English Europe & Eurasia

Staff

Charles Lichfield

Director, Economic Foresight & Analysis
C. Boyden Gray Senior Fellow

GeoEconomics Center

Economic Sanctions Economy & Business
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