United States and Canada

U.S. officials: Russia tries to ‘divide West’

By the Washington Times

From the Washington Times: “There are signs of Russian efforts to divide the West and prevent what they see as undue American influence,” said Philip H. Gordon, assistant secretary of state for European affairs. Alexander Vershbow, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, agreed, saying the Russians are “seeking to create divisions between the […]

Madeleine Albright named head of NATO’s Wise Men

NATO’s new Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, appointed twelve experts to oversee the development of the new Strategic Concept for the alliance. The special NATO committee (popularly referred to as the group of Wise Men), will be lead by a historic female diplomat, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Her Vice Chair will be […]

Russia-Ukraine Diplomatic War

By the Jamestown Foundation

From the Jamestown Foundation: Tension in the Crimea is at its highest since Ukraine faced the separatist challenge in the mid-1990’s. Externally, Russia has launched a widespread ideological campaign against Ukraine (and Georgia) that has made the former the third most disliked country in Russia. This tension in the Crimea is largely ignored by the […]

Obama’s Three Layered Foreign Policy

By Judah Grunstein

While James Joyner and others argue that President Barack Obama’s foreign policy so far represents a great deal of continuity with the final two years of the Bush administration, I see not so much an either/or comparison between the two, but rather a multi-layered model of Obama’s foreign policy.

Obama administration says Russia could join NATO

By the Associated Press

From the Associated Press: The Obama administration is not ruling out the possibility of Russian membership in NATO. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday that the United States would consider Russian membership in the military alliance that was founded to protect Europe from Soviet aggression. Gordon said NATO should be open […]

Appointment of General Stéphane Abrial to the post of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation

By NATO

From NATO: NATO today announced the appointment of General Stéphane Abrial to the post of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. General Abrial is currently Chief of Staff of the French Air Force. He will take up his new duties on 9 September 2009 at a change of command ceremony to be held at Headquarters Supreme Allied […]

U.S.-Ukraine “Tough Love:” the Feeling is Mutual

By the Jamestown Foundation

From the Jamestown Foundation: Support for closer relations with NATO has become an internal political liability in Ukraine. Among the potential candidates in the January 2010 presidential election, Yushchenko -with a popularity rating in the low single-digits- no longer has anything to lose; Tymoshenko has everything at stake; Yanukovych and his party are on record […]

Soon, Only U.S. Will Remain of Iraq Coalition

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: Two days from now, there will no longer be any other nations with troops in Iraq — no “multi” in the Multi-National Force. As Iraqi forces have increasingly taken the lead, the United States is the last of the “coalition of the willing” that the Bush administration first brought together […]

Priorities for Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO’s New Secretary General

By Heritage

From Heritage: Rasmussen’s experience working at the heart of the European Union gives him an inside edge on how best to reshape NATO-EU relations. The reintegration of France into NATO’s military command structures, coupled with the Obama Administration’s inclination toward a deeply integrated European Union (EU), threatens to hand over the primacy of NATO in […]

German Business Interests Speak Out During Russo-German Summit

By the Jamestown Foundation

From the Jamestown Foundation: [Former Chancellor Gerhard] Schroeder’s essay invokes U.S. President Barack Obama’s initiatives toward Russia to justify by analogy Germany’s own special relationship with Moscow (Schroeder’s close ally, incumbent Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, also uses this argument). Claiming that the United States and Russia are now embarking on a bilateral ‘partnership […]