United States and Canada

Disquiet on the eastern front

By the Economist

From the Economist: Can a distracted America remain a bulwark for eastern Europe? Damage control is never as good as damage prevention. Despite repeated reassurances, the countries of eastern Europe are worried about security. Their biggest concern is NATO, where officials are meant to be drafting contingency plans to defend Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Barack […]

U.S. Seeks 10,000 Troops From Its Allies in Afghanistan

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: The United States is scrambling to coax NATO allies to send 10,000 additional troops to Afghanistan as part of President Obama’s strategy for the region. Those countries appear willing to provide fewer than half that number, American and allied officials said Wednesday… Washington has not yet made formal troop requests […]

How Obama’s Afghan strategy is shaping up

By Reuters

From Reuters: Several of Obama’s top national security and military advisers, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have coalesced around two final options — deploying 30,000 to nearly 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, officials say. If bolstered by trainers from NATO allies, these two options […]

Americans Seek Up to 7,000 Extra NATO Troops for Ramp-Up in Afghanistan

By the Wall Street Journal

From the Wall Street Journal: The Obama administration is in advanced talks with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for a coordinated rollout of a new Afghan war strategy, which U.S. officials hope will include a commitment by European allies to send several thousand additional troops. U.S. and European estimates of the new troops they […]

NATO plans Afghan troops meeting on December 7

By Reuters

From Reuters: NATO will hold a meeting on December 7 to raise forces for Afghanistan, in the expectation that President Barack Obama will have laid out his plans for U.S. troop levels by then, alliance officials said on Monday. The meeting of countries contributing to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan will follow […]

America is listening to Russia’s call for new security arrangements in Europe

By the Economist

From the Economist: In theory, Russian diplomats accredited to NATO are welcome friends: the reality is murkier. For more than a decade now, Russian officials have been trusted to roam the alliance’s maze-like headquarters in Brussels just like envoys from other “partner countries” such as Sweden, Finland or Malta. In practice, says a diplomat, everyone […]

Could China fill a power vacuum in eastern Europe?

By the Economist

From the Economist: As the countries of eastern Europe bump nervously between a near-neutralist Germany, a revisionist Russia and an absent-minded America, the search is on for a powerful outsider, with strong interests in the region, willing to put all kinds of clout behind the smaller countries’ sovereignty and independence… Maybe China. It has plenty […]

New NATO command activated in Kabul; continues Afghan training

By NATO

From NATO: A newly established NATO command was activated today at Camp Eggers in Kabul, as the Combined Security Transition Command -Afghanistan merged with the new NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan to create a unified command for the training of the Security Forces in Afghanistan… “Our mission is about teaming with Afghans to build a […]

Who is NATO’s Miracle Worker?

When Barack Obama became President, the debate in European capitals was over how quickly they could decrease the number of troops contributed to NATO’s war in Afghanistan. Yet in the past week, something remarkable has happened in NATO, some of our European allies are actually sending more troops to Afghanistan, not just for temporary duty […]

Post-Crisis Defence Spending in the EU is Lower and Less Effective Than in the US

By the NATO Parliamentary Assembly

From the NATO Parliamentary Assembly: Defence budgets worldwide have taken a knock as a consequence of the global financial crisis. But as the world’s economies start to show signs of recovery, a “big disparity” is emerging between the EU and North America. This may place a strain on the North Atlantic Alliance, according to Senior […]