United States and Canada

Iraq’s Dangerous Relapse Needs US Attention

By Ramzy Mardini

The month of April marked the tenth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, the third provincial election of the post-Saddam era—the country’s first without the presence of US troops—and seven years since a relatively unknown Nouri al-Maliki emerged as the prime minister of Iraq. Nevertheless, after a period of relatively low violence and another election […]

Time For Some American Shock and Awe in Syria

By Sarwar Kashmeri

United States’ intelligence agencies and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are still not certain the Syrian government of President Assad has used chemical weapons against its opposition. Nothing has yet emerged from France, Germany or Britain to unequivocally confirm this charge either. But the clamor among the hawkish segment of Washington lawmakers to get the […]

Obama Should Remember Rwanda as He Weighs Action in Syria

By Anne-Marie Slaughter

The Rwanda genocide began in April 1994; within a few weeks, nongovernmental organizations there were estimating that 100,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been massacred. Yet two months later, Reuters correspondent Alan Elsner and State Department spokeswoman Christine Shelly had an infamous exchange: Elsner: “How would you describe the events taking place in Rwanda?” Shelly: […]

America’s Historical Amnesia

By Harlan Ullman

Karl Marx mused that history first appears as tragedy and then as farce. That may not apply to the United States, as Americans are too often amnesia-prone when it comes to history. Americans’ ability to ignore or forget history is legion. Three cases underscore this point.

Syria: Defending the Indefensible

By Frederic C. Hof

Recent testimony by US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey illustrated quite nicely one outcome of a troubled interagency national security system: US senators seemed to be more perplexed about American policy toward Syria after the hearing than they were before.

Senate confirms Breedlove as NATO’s new Supreme Allied Commander Europe

By Allied Command Operations

From Allied Command Operations:  U.S. Air Force General Philip M. Breedlove was confirmed by the United States Senate as NATO’s next Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR)

Lyndon W. Obama

By Harlan Ullman

The shadow of North Korea’s latest provocations for the moment has obscured Iran and its nuclear ambitions. Another war on the Korean Peninsula would be a disaster for the Korean people even though the military defeat of the North that is sure to follow would no doubt end the Kim ruling dynasty.

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

With ISAF’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 fast approaching, it is useful to look back and see what failures and successes there have been. Have certain challenges been overcome? How do the Afghans see ISAF’s mission? On April 17, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security hosted Major General Charles Gurganus, commanding general, […]