United States and Canada

US General: Russia Flying Sorties Near California, Linked to Ukraine Crisis

By David Brunnstrom, Reuters

The head of U.S. air forces in the Pacific said on Monday that Russia’s intervention in Ukraine had been accompanied by a significant increase in Russian air activity in the Asia-Pacific region in a show of strength and to gather intelligence.

Hagel to NATO: We Must Summon ‘the Will to Invest in Our Alliance’

By Chuck Hagel, Department of Defense

America did not make commitments abroad “in search of monsters to destroy.” Instead, President Truman joined the North Atlantic Treaty because he said he was convinced that NATO would serve as “a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression”

US Nominates Air Force General to Lead NATO Special Operations HQ

By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes

Air Force Maj. Gen. Marshall B. Webb, U.S. European Command’s top special operations officer, has been nominated for a third star and an assignment as commander of NATO’s special operations headquarters.

Canadian Troops in Poland for Multinational Exercise

By CBC News

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada will send soldiers to Poland to take part in NATO exercises amid growing concerns about Russian aggression toward Ukraine.

NATO Countries Planning Comms Mission in Ukraine

By Paul D. Shinkman, U.S. News & World Report

NATO countries may be ramping up their war of words in the coming weeks in Ukraine, where Russian propaganda flows freely into the east while ill-prepared security forces can’t even talk to one another.

President Obama to Visit Europe Amid Russia Crisis, Biden Says

Vice President Tells Council: Ukraine-Russia Conflict ‘Was Born in Putin’s Mind’ President Barack Obama will visit Poland in June for the 25th anniversary of the free elections that marked that country’s exit from its era of communist rule under Soviet domination, Vice President Joe Biden said at the Atlantic Council today. Obama’s visit to Poland […]

Madeleine Albright, Stephen Hadley: Obama, Media Need to Focus Americans on Ukraine

Democratic, Republican Foreign Policy Leaders on US Role in the Struggle for Europe’s East A Democratic former secretary of state and a Republican former national security advisor agreed today that President Obama, Congress and the US media should focus on explaining to Americans why Russia’s attacks on Ukraine are a critical problem for a United […]

US Senators: Ukraine is “a Test” of the Transatlantic Relationship

By Alex Ward

The Role of the United States: A European Power Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) spoke as part of the Atlantic Council’s Toward a Europe Whole and Free conference on the US role in European security. Both senators believe that events in Ukraine are vital to the transatlantic relationship, with Senator Murphy calling […]

History Relived: Europe’s Story

By Cassandra Lewis

Opening Panel of Toward a Europe Whole and Free As the world stands by watching how the crisis in Ukraine will unfold, leading historians discuss the lessons gleaned from the past hundred years of Europe’s history that defined the contours of today’s European security landscape. This panel discussion featured Dr. Robert Kagan of Brookings, H.E. […]

Opening Toward a Europe Whole and Free

Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Huntsman kicked off the conference Toward a Europe Whole and Free to a packed house at Atlantic Council headquarters. Immediately following his welcome, Tomáš Valášek, Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to NATO, and Council Executive Vice President Damon Wilson made a joint presentation outlining the challenge of a Europe whole […]