United States and Canada

Shaping Political Parties in the Twenty-First Century

A Conversation with the Chairs of Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) & the United States’ Democratic Party Recent electoral reforms in Mexico are a watershed moment in the country’s full transition to a pluralist, participatory democracy. Reforming the electoral process has been a constant pursuit of opposition parties such as the PAN and the PRD after […]

Russian Cyber Campaign Continues to Penetrate NATO Ministries

By Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg View

It shouldn’t be easy to shut down a European ministry for days, depriving bureaucrats of access to e-mail and the web. Someone, however, has managed to do just that to Belgium’s foreign ministry, which had to quarantine its entire computer system last Saturday

NATO Launches Multinational Military Exercise to Defend Estonia

By NATO

NATO launched a large-scale exercise “Steadfast Javelin 1” in Estonia on Friday (16 May 2014) which will test Allied forces on their ability to work together as well as maintaining NATO’s readiness and combat effectiveness.

Norway Deploys Frigate 10,000 Miles Around Globe to Participate in RIMPAC Exercise

By Ine Eriksen Søreide, Ministry of Defense of Norway

Today – May 12th 2014 – is a day worth remembering. The Norwegian frigate KNM Fridtjof Nansen departs for the Pacific to participate in world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise RIMPAC.

Why Aren’t Sanctions Stopping Putin?

By Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Daily Beast

The West is threatening another round of sanctions against Russia in an effort to deter meddling in the May 25 presidential elections in Ukraine.

US Chief of Defense: NATO Needs to Revisit the Meaning of Deterrence

By Martin Dempsey, Defense One

Dempsey: My personal view is that this is a moment for NATO to decide what it intends to be in the future.

Europeans Dither on Defense While Putin Laughs

By John Vinocur, Wall Street Journal

On one hand, there are European countries reasonably bemoaning years of declining American leadership and resolve.

Is Canada Pulling Its Weight in NATO?

By Roland Paris, CIPS

NATO has long called upon its members to maintain military spending at 2 percent of GDP. However, few alliance members have met this target.

US Deploying Special Forces in Baltics and Central Europe for Exercises

By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes

U.S. special operations forces are increasing their presence in the Baltics and eastern Europe with a continuous cycle of exercises planned as part of a new effort to maintain a “persistent presence” of elite U.S. troops in a region rattled by Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine.