United States and Canada

Air Force merges two command and control units in Germany

By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes

From Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes:  The Air Force has merged two command and control units at Ramstein Air Base, with the new combined unit overseeing all U.S. air operations in Europe and Africa.

Counter-Piracy Task Force: Strategic Approaches to the Piracy Challenge

By Adrienne Chuck

The International Security Program and the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center launched the Atlantic Council Maritime Piracy Task Force, chaired by Atlantic Council Board Director Franklin D. Miller. This was the first in what will be a series of meetings addressing the challenge of piracy and possible strategic approaches.

U.S. not sure Russia and NATO will reach agreement on missile defense before the Chicago summit

By Susan Cornwell and Jim Wolf, Reuters

From Susan Cornwell and Jim Wolf, Reuters:  The United States has invited Russia to use its own radars and other sensors to size up one or more U.S. missile-defense flight tests as part of a new push to persuade Moscow that the system poses it no threat, a Pentagon official said on Tuesday.

The Real Recep Tayyip Erdogan

By Morton Abramowitz, the National Interest

Why the US Explored “Cyber War” Against Libya, And Why It Backed Down

By Jason Healey, the New Atlanticist

From Jason Healey, the New Atlanticist:  [W]e should have been not just surprised but shocked if we’d heard that the US ruled out cyber capabilities without even considering them.

Republicans and Foreign Policy

By the Editors of the New York Times

From the Editors of the New York Times:  Recently, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. have delivered foreign policy speeches and issued white papers. But they are pretty thin, with few new ideas and many unanswered questions.

Clinton in Libya to Meet Leaders and Offer Aid Package

By Steven Lee Myers, the New York Times

From Steven Lee Myers, the New York Times:  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton landed here on Tuesday to demonstrate support for Libya’s new transitional government, even as a senior administration official expressed concern that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi remained a “lethal nuisance.

West must keep Pakistan ties, says NATO chief

By Peter Spiegel and James Lamont, the Financial Times

From Peter Spiegel and James Lamont, the Financial Times:  The west must continue to co-operate closely with Pakistan despite US claims that Pakistan’s intelligence agency is assisting Islamist insurgents fighting allied troops in Afghanistan, Nato’s secretary-general has said.

U.S. Debated Cyberwarfare in Attack Plan on Libya

By Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, the New York Times

From Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, the New York Times:  Just before the American-led strikes against Libya in March, the Obama administration intensely debated whether to open the mission with a new kind of warfare: a cyberoffensive to disrupt and even disable the Qaddafi government’s air-defense system, which threatened allied warplanes.