United States and Canada

French Embrace of NATO’s Power Is Huge Step for World

By the Editors of Bloomberg Businessweek

Learning the right lessons from Libya

By Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy

From Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy:  The rebel victory in Libya is likely to gladden the hearts of liberal interventionists, who will see the NATO-aided triumph as vindicating the idea that great powers have the right and the responsibility to come to the aid of victims of tyrannical oppression.

Future options for NATO nuclear policy

By Jeffrey A. Larsen

The United States has maintained forward-deployed nuclear weapons in Europe for more than six decades. That may soon come to an end, argue Dr. Jeffrey A. Larsen, a retired Air Force command pilot and expert on arms control, in his Atlantic Council issue brief “Future Options for NATO Nuclear Policy.”  Unless current trends are altered, […]

Libya: A Small War With Big Consequences

By François Heisbourg, the International Herald Tribune

From François Heisbourg, the International Herald Tribune:  [T]his small and successful war will have major strategic consequences for both NATO and the European Union, as a result of President Barack Obama’s decision to “lead from behind,” and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refusal to get involved.

NATO’s Teachable Moment

By the Editors of the New York Times

From the Editors of the New York Times:  The Western allies, especially the British and French forces backed up by the United States, can be justly proud.

Kagan: NATO ‘saved the people of Libya and kept alive the momentum of the Arab Spring’

By Robert Kagan, the Weekly Standard

From Robert Kagan, the Weekly Standard:  There is much to criticize in the way NATO handled the operations. The Libyan intervention was certainly not the death knell for the alliance, as some have suggested, but neither was it a sign of great strength and vitality.

Libya, Obama and the triumph of realism

By Robert Kaplan, the Financial Times

From Robert Kaplan, the Financial Times:  Realism is dead, clamour the cheerleaders of the Arab spring. The collapse of dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt, and now Libya heralds a new birth of freedom that supposedly consigns realism to the graveyard.

White House offers Two Principles for Intervention instead of an Obama Doctrine

By Helene Cooper and Steven Lee Myers, the New York Times

From Helene Cooper and Steven Lee Myers, the New York Times:  It would be premature to call the war in Libya a complete success for United States interests. But the arrival of victorious rebels on the shores of Tripoli last week gave President Obama’s senior advisers a chance to claim a key victory for an […]

Libyan War Improves Pentagon’s View of France as an Ally

By Elisabeth Bumiller, the New York Times

From Elisabeth Bumiller, the New York Times:  [S]omething has happened on the bombing runs over Libya. France played a major role in this war, winning grudging respect from a Pentagon that has long looked down on many European militaries.

Libya Exposes Transatlantic Contradictions

By James Joyner, the New Atlanticist

From James Joyner, the New Atlanticist:  The late-night comedian Jon Stewart’s quip that “the U.S. handing Libya over to NATO is like Beyoncé saying she’s ceding control to Sasha Fierce” constantly came to mind as the fight dragged on.