Western Europe

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.

Europe’s Crumple Zone

By Julian Lindley-French

On Wednesday I had the privilege of providing evidence to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee at its first meeting to consider the 2015 British Strategic Security and Defence Review alongside Lord Hennessy and Major-General Mungo Melvin.  Perhaps the most important contribution I made was to suggest to collected British politicians of all shades that […]

Is part-time national defense good enough for Europe?

By Martin Hurt, International Center for Defense Studies

EU says 500 Europeans fighting in Syria

By BBC

From BBC:  The EU’s anti-terror chief has told the BBC that hundreds of Europeans are now fighting with rebel forces in Syria against Bashar al-Assad’s regime.