United States and Canada

Secretary General’s four goals for NATO Summit in Chicago

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

 From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  Security is not an optional extra – even in times of austerity.  It’s not a luxury – it’s a vital necessity.

A New Atlanticism

By John C. Kornblum, atlantic-community.org

 From John C. Kornblum, atlantic-community.org:  One often meets Europeans these days who say their belief in Europe was nothing but an illusion. The EU is experiencing a serious crisis of confidence among its citizens. Equally worrisome is the growing loss of confidence by its essential protector, the United States.

Behind Qatar’s Intervention In Libya

By David B. Roberts, Foreign Affairs

From David B. Roberts, Foreign Affairs:  Qatar’s actions in Libya took most analysts by surprise when, in March, it sent six Mirage fighter jets (which likely represented the majority of Qatar’s operational fighter strength) to join in NATO air operations.

Why Turkey will continue to remain a committed member of the Atlantic Alliance

By Avnish Patel, Royal United Services Institute

America’s Fourth and Most Testing Epoch?

By Harlan Ullman

In life, people inexorably move from infancy to adulthood and on to old age in a series of significant chronological milestones. Countries are obviously not people. But states also pass through stages that mark fundamental transition points and new epochs in their histories, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. And sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. […]

Libya showed that the Europeans “successfully took on more responsibility through NATO, not the EU”

By Kenneth Weinstein, Real Clear World

From Kenneth Weinstein, Real Clear World:  What we saw in Libya is the emergence of something akin to warfare for the networked age: the full-fledged emergence of shifting coalitions of the willing based on participating nations’ domestic political calculations and military readiness.

British think tank: Libya campaign needed luck

By David Stringer, the AP

From David Stringer, the AP:  The NATO-led air campaign in Libya needed luck to overcome its initially haphazard command, complex new international partnerships and the withdrawal of the United States from a leading role, a top military think tank says.

Germany’s Woeful Security Council Record

By Ralf Neukirch, Spiegel

From Ralf Neukirch, Spiegel:  March 17 of this year. That was the day on which the Security Council passed its Resolution 1973 on Libya, which called for the implementation of a no-fly zone and the use of military force to protect the civilian population. All Western and African members of the council voted in favor […]