United States and Canada

Gates: Europe could face hundreds of Iranian missiles

By Reuters

From Reuters:  Citing the growing Iranian missile threat, the United States announced plans last September to integrate sea- and land-based missile defenses in and around its NATO allies in Europe, referred to as the "phased adaptive approach." "One of the elements of the intelligence that contributed to the decision on the phased adaptive array (approach) […]

Clinton: Reports of limits on U.S. missile defense deployments “Dead wrong”

By Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy

From Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy:  The Gertz story became a focus of the Senate Armed Services committee hearing Thursday with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Joint Chiefs chairman Michael Mullen.

Missile defense deal?

By Bill Gertz, the Washington Times

From Bill Gertz, the Washington Times:  The Obama administration is secretly working with Russia to conclude an agreement that many officials fear will limit U.S. missile defenses, a key objective of Moscow since it opposed plans for a U.S. missile defense interceptor base in Eastern Europe, according to American officials involved in arms control issues.

NATO rethinks its mission, perhaps too reluctantly

By the Christian Science Monitor

From the Christian Science Monitor:  NATO is years overdue for a major review of its purpose. The last time the transatlantic military alliance looked in the mirror was 1999 – before 9/11, before widespread cyberattacks, before Russia veered from the democratic path under Vladimir Putin.

Wilson Center honors Turkish foreign minister with “Public Service Award”

By Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy

From Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy:  The U.S. taxpayer-funded Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, led by former Congressman Lee Hamilton, is giving out its annual award for public service Thursday, and the winner is … Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu! Davutaoglu "personifies the attributes we seek to honor at the Woodrow Wilson Center," Hamilton said […]

Major naval exercise set for Atlantic region

By Canada.com

Turkey’s Choice of Allies

By Thomas Friedman, the New York Times

From Thomas Friedman, the New York Times: As one Turkish foreign policy analyst said to me: “We are not mediating between East and West anymore. We’ve become spokesmen for the most regressive elements in the East.” Finally, there is a vacuum inside Turkey. The secular opposition parties have been in disarray most of the decade, the […]

“Europe is Anything but an Equal Partner in the Transatlantic Relationship”

By Ana Palacios, the American Interest

From Ana Palacios, the American Interest:  But even as the glitz and glitter of celebrity culture politics seemed to define the Transatlantic mood, a deeper reality was dawning on Europeans who were paying attention to substance instead of spectacle. Obama remained an American President, protecting American interests, as he faced one of the most challenging […]

Kyrgyzstan: A Test for Mutual Security

By James F. Collins and Matthew Rojansky, the New York Times

From James F. Collins and Matthew Rojansky, the New York Times:  The crisis in Kyrgyzstan presents an opportunity for three multilateral groups working in the area — NATO, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (C.S.T.O., an alliance of seven former Soviet states currently chaired by Armenia), and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (O.S.C.E.) […]

US Marines storm Estonian beachhead in exercise

By AP

From AP:  United States Marines are conducting their first amphibious landing exercise in a territory that was once part of the Soviet Union. In Tuesday’s joint military exercise some 130 combat-ready marines, along with Estonian troops, disembarked from the transport vessel USS Gunston Hall to occupy a beach near the town of Loksa on Estonia’s […]