United States and Canada

NATO intensifies attacks on Taliban leaders

By Deb Riechman, the AP

From Deb Riechman, the AP:  U.S. and Afghan troops seized a key Taliban figure after a four-hour gunbattle – part of a strategy that NATO officials said Thursday had eliminated more than 100 insurgent leaders in the past four months. The campaign to disrupt the Taliban’s midlevel command structure is moving into high gear just as […]

Poland foresees U.S. interceptors in place by 2018

By Reuters

From Reuters:  The United States will deploy SM-3 interceptor missiles in Poland between 2015 and 2018 under its plan to defend NATO allies in Europe from possible Iranian attack, a Polish official said on Thursday.

Uncertain Kyrgyzstan: Rebalancing U.S. Policy

By Ross Wilson and Damon Wilson,the Atlantic Council

From Ross Wilson and Damon Wilson,the Atlantic Council:  [T]he Obama administration and its allies underestimate what is at stake in this far-away country of over five million pinched between Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China.

Russian spy ring suspect jumps bail in Cyprus

By Helena Smith, the Guardian

From Helena Smith, the Guardian:  The Russian espionage drama intensfied tonight as the alleged paymaster in the "deep cover" spy ring failed to answer bail in Cyprus. An arrest warrant was issued for Christopher Metsos, the 11th suspected member of the operation, after he failed to report to a police station in Larnaka, the Guardian […]

Gen. Petraeus confirmed as new US Afghan commander

By Susan Cornwell and Phil Stewart, Reuters

From Susan Cornwell and Phil Stewart, Reuters: The U.S. Senate unanimously voted on Wednesday to confirm David Petraeus as commander of the troubled Afghan war, pinning U.S. hopes on the four-star general who helped turn around the conflict in Iraq.

NATO needs to brace for spike in casualties-Britain

By Adam Entous, Reuters

From Adam Entous, Reuters: Britain’s defense secretary warned NATO allies on Wednesday against prematurely withdrawing forces from Afghanistan and said they should prepare their war-weary publics for a spike in coalition casualties.

U.S. Official: ‘We have No Arms Embargo on Georgia’

By Civil Georgia

NATO retools in a key mission: Building an Afghan police force

By Joby Warrick, the Washington Post

From Joby Warrick, the Washington Post:  The alliance is shaking up existing training programs and adding new incentives in an attempt to turn around what has been one of the biggest, most enduring disappointments of the nearly nine-year-old war: the inability to transform the country’s 90,000 police officers into a professional force capable of assuming […]

The deadliest month for NATO in nine years of conflict

By AFP

From AFP: An Afghan UN employee was killed when his vehicle came under fire in Kabul Tuesday, as the toll for foreign troops rose to 100 in June, the deadliest month for NATO in nine years of conflict.

Deciding on an OSCE Summit

In the issue brief “Behind the Eight Ball: Deciding on an OSCE Summit,” co-authored by the Chairman of the task force, Senator Chuck Hagel, Patriciu Eurasia Center Director Ross Wilson, and Vice President and International Security Program Director Damon Wilson argue that the U.S. focus on Central Asia since 9/11 through the prism of the […]