Western Europe

European Worries Over US Commitment a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

By James Joyner, the New Atlanticist

From James Joyner, the New Atlanticist:  General Sir David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff, delivering his annual lecture to the Royal United Services Institute, identified as the first of his Grand Strategy concerns "Greater US military focus on the Pacific meaning less emphasis on Europe and her problems.

World leaders praise Havel’s legacy

By the BBC

From the BBC:  Tributes have been pouring in for the man many consider a driving force in the overthrow of communist rule in eastern Europe.

Firms Bid on NATO Cyberwar

By Daniel Michaels, the Wall Street Journal

Syria’s civil war is already drawing in foreign powers

By Jim Hoagland, the Washington Post

From Jim Hoagland, the Washington Post:  It is the Arab Earthquake. Not “spring,” not “wave of reform,” not even “awakening” can describe the systemic upheaval that has engulfed Syria, where other Arab nations actively press for the overthrow of the regime headed by Bashar al-Assad. Let us call an earthquake an earthquake.

British Defense chief signals era of new military alliances

By Richard Norton-Taylor and Nick Hopkins, the Guardian

From Richard Norton-Taylor and Nick Hopkins, the Guardian:  The British government’s most senior defence and security policy advisers are finally facing up to a fundamental shift in the world’s military and economic balance.

General asks Obama for year-long pause in troop withdrawals from Afghanistan

By Ben Farmer, the Telegraph

From Ben Farmer, the Telegraph:  Gen John Allen is opposing Barack Obama’s strategy of steadily pulling out troops over the next three years and argues a premature decline will jeopardise security gains made in the past year.