august 24, 2011

Ronald Asmus: If the threats change, we must change how we defend ourselves against them ^Răspunde

by civitas politics • English content, NATO Files, Posts by author • Tags: Afghanistan, Balkans, euro-Atlantic mindset, Europe, global polictics, NATO, NATO summit, Richard Haas, Ronald Asmus, Russia, security environment, Western Balkans

Ronald Asmus (1957-2011)

How can you describe the present state of the transatlantic partnership? In early 2003, the notion used was the drift. Now, after president Bush’s second term it seems that we have a revived transatlantic alliance capable of projecting its power far beyond Europe and assuming global missions. On both sides of the Atlantic we have political elites with an advanced euro-Atlantic mindset. In this context, can NATO became once again a tool of first choice, a natural first choice since the alliance is the only interface between the euro-Atlantic societies and the threats of the XXI century? Or coalitions of the willing of NATO members (but not using NATO as a whole) would be a more realistically scenario because we are living in an article 4 world of discretionary commitments (Richard Haas)?

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mai 25, 2010

The blue-print of the future NATO Strategic Concept: Some comments and views ²

by George Visan • Analysis, English content, George Visan, International Affairs, NATO Files, Posts by author • Tags: Afghanistan, Africa, African Union, alliance, Asia, Asia-Pacific, AU, Australia, Balkans, Central Asia, China, Collective Security Treaty Organization, counter-terrorism, crisis manangement, CSTO, cyber-attack, EAPC, EU, EU defense identity, Europe, France, genocide, Georgia, Georgia War, Germany, Gulf Cooperation Council, Hormuz Strait, Horn of Africa, humanitarian missions, India, Indonesia, international security, Iran, ISAF, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latin America, maritime security, Mediterranean, Middle East, NATO, New Zealand, North Korea, OAS, Organization of American States, OSCE, Pakistan, radical Islamism, regional security, risks, Russia, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, South America, South Korea, threats, Treaty of Lisbon, Ukraine, United States, United States foreign policy, WMD

NATO has released last week a report containing the outline of the future NATO Strategic Concept that will be adopted at the Alliance summit this year in Lisbon. Although this is not even a draft of the new Strategic Concept, it is a blue print that offers a glimpse of NATO’s strategic thinking. Following its publication consultations and heated negotiations between member states will follow in order to draft the NATO’s new Strategic Concept. This article is first in a series dedicated to analyzing the outline of the Alliance’s future strategy. In this part I will summarize and analyze the chapters dedicated to the threat environment, core tasks of NATO and partnerships.

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ianuarie 6, 2010

The End Game: the consequences of World War II ⁷

by George Visan • Analysis, English content, George Visan, International Affairs, Posts by author, War and Politics • Tags: Bretton Woods, Cold War, consequences, Decolonization, End Game, Europe, European Great Power System, flank powers, France, Great Britain, Helsinki Accords, international politics, international system, Italy, Japan, market economy, nuclear monopoly, Polish-German border, United Nations, USA, USSR, World War II, Zhu Enlai

Potsdam Conference (courtesy of Wikipedia and Bundesarchiv)

It is said that when asked about what he thought of the French Revolution, the Chinese foreign minister Zhu Enlai replied that it is too early to say. This famous quip about the French Revolution can be applied also to the consequences of World War II. This article is the final installment in a series of articles which dealt with the greatest conflict ever to have been fought and provides a short-list of the far reaching consequences of this event. The list of consequences should not be viewed by the readers as being definitive and I strongly urge them to add more or comment on them.

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septembrie 21, 2009

US makes major strategic shift on Missile Defense ³

by George Visan • Analysis, English content, George Visan, International Affairs, Posts by author • Tags: Aegis Combat System, Arleigh Burke destroyer, Ballistic Missile Defense, Barack Obama, Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic, defense budget, Europe, European Security, Ground-Based Interceptor, Iran, Kremlin, Lech Walesa, Mirek Topolanek, Moscow, Pentagon, Poland, retrenchment, Robert S. Gates, Russia, Solidarność, Standard SM-3, Ticonderoga class cruiser, United States foreign policy

A ground-based interceptor lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Dec. 5, 2008. (DoD photo by Joe Davila, U.S. Air Force/Released)

The President of the United States, Barack Obama has announced on September 17, a major shift in the policy of the US concerning the deployment of anti-ballistic missile defenses in Central and Eastern Europe in order to protect its European allies from a possible Iranian threat. In this article I will argue that this move is a part of a larger strategy of retrenchment, designed to make American power more flexible and adaptable in an international system defined both by symmetrical and asymmetrical threats. The move does not signal by any means a waning of America’s commitment to Europe’s security or for that matter, the security of Central and Eastern Europe. Canceling the deployment of the Ground Based Interceptors in Poland and the X band radar in the Czech Republic does not mean the United States is giving up on creating a national missile defense capability.

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