Western Europe

French defense review has both good and bad news for NATO

By Jeff Lightfoot, New Atlanticist

From Jeff Lightfoot, New Atlanticist:  France’s new White Book on defense and national security offers no radical thinking on the future posture and structure of France’s military and national security establishment

France’s White Book: Both Good and the Bad for the US and NATO

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

France’s new White Book on defense and national security offers no radical thinking on the future posture and structure of France’s military and national security establishment, maintaining previous strategic ambitions and positions even in the face of a faltering economy. This is both good news and bad news for Washington and other major French allies. […]

The Peasant’s Revolt

By Julian Lindley-French

High up in the majestic Yorkshire hills I am but a flat-cap stone’s throw from my native Sheffield.  The sheep stand fast protecting their new-born lambs from the scything, sheeting and predatory rain.  This is a place of unforgiving beauty. It was much the same back in 1381 when Wat Tyler and Jack Straw led the Peasant’s […]

Defense cuts risk Britain’s NATO standing

By James Kirkup and Peter Foster, Telegraph

From James Kirkup and Peter Foster, Telegraph:  New defence cuts mean Britain could fall below the Nato standard for defence spending, straining the UK’s military co-operation with the US, it has emerged.

Hammond: NATO split on whether main threat coming from Russia or MENA?

By Philip Hammond, E-Ring

From Philip Hammond, E-Ring:  The further east you go, the more of the concern remains that we should be prepared for a — maybe not full-blown state-on-state conflict — but we need to be prepared to protect the borders of NATO

Britain: European defense budget too small, yet ‘vast amounts of it are wasted’

By Philip Hammond, E-Ring

From Philip Hammond, E-Ring:  It’s the NATO planning process and looking at the overall capability that European NATO needs to be able to field and making sure that in the next planning framework horizon we get the capabilities we need

Pro-Assad Syrian hackers launching cyber-attacks on western media

By   Nick Hopkins and Luke Harding, Guardian

Europe’s defense capabilities gap

By Thomas Enders and Wolfgang Ischinger, Munich Security Conference

From Thomas Enders and Wolfgang Ischinger, Munich Security Conference:  Demands are growing – as the recent crises in Mali and Libya illustrate – even as defence budgets steadily decline.

France releases Defense White Paper: Hollande to cut 24,000 military jobs

By Greg Keller, AP

From Greg Keller, AP:  France said Monday it will cut another 24,000 military jobs by 2019 as it attempts to maintain a force ready to deal with global threats at the time when the bill for France’s decades of deficit spending is due.

Britain may restore a permanent military presence in the Gulf

By David Blair, Telegraph

From David Blair, Telegraph:  The withdrawal of all British troops from Afghanistan next year will create a unique opportunity to reverse the "East of Suez" decision that formed a landmark in Britain’s retreat from imperial power, the Royal United Services Institute will say in a paper to be published today.