Western Europe

Uncoordinated Defense cuts threaten NATO’s future

By Tomas Valasek, the Wall Street Journal

From Tomas Valasek, the Wall Street Journal:  As European governments rein in spending, defense budgets are falling, often dramatically. Germany plans to cut its armed forces by a third and the U.K. wants to reduce military spending by as much as 20%.

NATO: A Fat, Bloated, Job Creation Project?

By James Joyner, the New Atlanticist

From James Joyner, the New Atlanticist:  Lost amidst the welcome news of British-French cooperation on military cost-sharing in some tough talk from their ministers of defense on NATO. Last week, I noted that the FT‘s superb reporter Ben Hall buried the lead, waiting until the 13th paragraph of a story to pass along Liam Fox‘s pronouncement […]

Govt scuttles talk of France aircraft carrier share

By Dave Clark, AFP

From Dave Clark, AFP:  France and Britain announced Friday they are talking about sharing the cost of military aircraft programmes, but rejected reports that they plan to merge their aircraft carrier fleets. "In terms of actually being able to share an aircraft carrier, I would have thought that that was utterly unrealistic," Defence Minister Liam […]

Europe and Benign Neglect

By Roger Cohen, the New York Times

From Roger Cohen, the New York Times:  “Europe is the object of benign U.S. neglect,” said Camille Grand, a prominent Paris-based defense analyst. “Obama has not established or re-established a strategic relationship with any single European country or with Europe as a whole.”

U.S. Air Force assumes command of NATO Baltic air policing mission

By defpro.com

From defpro.com:  The 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, deployed from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, assumed command of the NATO Baltic air policing mission Sept. 1 from the Polish air force at Lithuania Air Force Air Base. For the next four months, the squadron, comprising approximately 125 people, is responsible for ensuring the air sovereignty of […]

West gives Serbia tough message on Kosovo

By Adam Tanner and Ivana Sekularac, Reuters

BNAC: Issues Concerning Effective Corporate Governance

It is two years since the financial services sector of many of the world’s leading economies were plunged into disarray. The uncertainty this generated meant that individual and institutional investors were very reluctant to participate in the financial markets resulting in a dramatic decline in asset values, credit becoming largely unavailable and, as a result, […]

Britain and France may share aircraft carriers

By Tim Castle and John Irish, Reuters

From Tim Castle and John Irish, Reuters:  Britain said on Tuesday it would discuss closer military cooperation with France in talks this week, but played down a report that the two countries would share aircraft carriers to save costs. Britain is building two new carriers at a cost of 5.2 billion pounds ($8.0 billion) but, […]

NATO allies have key role in new Pentagon Cyber Security Strategy

By David Ignatius, the Washington Post

From David Ignatius, the Washington Post:   With little fanfare, the Pentagon is putting the finishing touches on a new strategy that will treat cyberspace as a domain of potential warfare — and apply instant "active defense" to counterattacks that, in theory, could shut down the nation’s transportation and commerce.

Defence chief urges end to German conscription

By Gerrit Wiesmann, the Financial Times

From Gerrit Wiesmann, the Financial Times:   The German government is trying to cut its defence budget by ending national service and cutting the army by a third to 165,000 troops. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the defence minister, urged an end to conscription as he briefed colleagues about cutting €8.3bn ($10.5bn) from planned defence spending by 2014, according […]