The Prospects of Japan-NATO Cooperation
written by: Yoshikazu Hirose
Jun 11, 2010

"Japan and NATO are partners," Shinzo Abe told the North Atlantic Council in January 2007 in what became the first address delivered by a Japanese head of government to the top decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "We have in common such fundamental values as freedom, democracy, ...more

The debate about Article 5 and its credibility
What is it all about?
written by: Pal Jonson
Jun 08, 2010

Article 5 of the Washington Treaty stipulates that an armed attack on one is an attack on all - and that the parties will take such action as deemed necessary to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic Area.

India and NATO
written by: Michael Ruehle
Apr 13, 2010

Last February, in a speech at the annual Munich Security Conference, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen argued that the Alliance should turn into a consultation forum for global security issues. Such a role, he argued, would require the transatlantic security alliance to develop closer ...more

Russian Strategic Interests Shifting Eastward
written by: Roger McDermott
Mar 25, 2010

On March 8, an open letter by a group of German politicians and military officers, including the former German Defense Minister, Volker Ruehe, recommending that NATO should offer membership to Russia stimulated speculation that such approaches might be reflected in the Alliance's new strategic concept ...more

NATO: peacekeeping in the Holy Land?
A feasibility study

Mar 24, 2010

In 2000, President Clinton suggested the presence of an international force to oversee security following an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. This could be a NATO force, according to Thomas Friedman. His idea was revived in 2008 by President Obama's National Security Advisor James Jones.

Alliance Asymmetries
written by: Jackson Janes
Mar 16, 2010

A line in a recent speech by Defense Secretary Robert Gates set off a number of alarm bells in Europe about rising friction in the transatlantic relationship. Expressing concern about what he sees as increasing aversion to the uses and risks of military force among European publics, Gates warned about the danger of miscalculations based on perceived weakness as well as the problem of securing sufficient resources and capabilities to meet threats and challenges in the future. He referred to this problem as the "demilitarization of Europe."

Piracy - threat or nuisance?
written by: Alessandro Scheffler
Mar 12, 2010

A spate of high-profile hijackings over the New Year and the publication of the 2009 Annual Piracy Report issued by the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in mid-January have brought the piracy problem back on stage.

Under the Umbrella
written by: Michael Ruehle
Mar 05, 2010

In his now famous Prague speech last April, United States President Barack Obama endorsed the vision of a world without nuclear weapons. He sent a strong political signal: if repairing the fragile nuclear nonproliferation arrangements required a credible disarmament commitment by the nuclear weapons ...more

NATO'S WOMEN
Reflections on the International Women's Day on 8 March
written by: Stefanie Babst
Mar 01, 2010

NATO and women - words that do not necessarily make a natural connection in peoples' minds. It is either men in uniform or in dark suits, the diplomats' preferred outfit, that populate NATO's corridors and committee rooms and, more importantly, take decisions. Still, you must look ...more

Israel and the Globalization of NATO
written by: Dumitru Chican
Feb 25, 2010

At the beginning of 2010 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization intensified its efforts so that the 28 member countries and its numerous partners spread on the five continents enhance their participation to the campaign deployed in Afghanistan. The Israeli journal "Jerusalem Post" wrote on 13 January ...more

Moscow Offers Helicopter Cooperation to ISAF
written by: Roger McDermott
Nov 12, 2009

Moscow plans to sell helicopters on a commercial basis to NATO in support of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Afghanistan. Sources within the Russian aviation industry indicated that the Alliance is interested in procuring civil transport helicopters to enhance prompt ...more

Keeping Our Allies On Our Side
written by: Leo Michel and Robert Hunter
Nov 04, 2009

In Afghanistan, that means the U.S. must be willing to listen.

'There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies," observed Winston Churchill in 1945, "and that is fighting without them." It's a truth worth recalling as the Obama administration nears crucial ...more

NATO's Future Nuclear Dimension: Managing Expectations for the Strategic Concept Debate
written by: Michael Ruehle
Oct 16, 2009

At NATO's 60th Anniversary Summit in April 2009, the Alliance's Heads of State and Government agreed that work should start on the development of a new Strategic Concept. The momentum for such a decision had been building up for quite some time. Over the past few years, NATO's growing number ...more

NATO Says Afghan Battle Proved Costly for Militants
written by: Elisabeth Bumiller
Oct 07, 2009

WASHINGTON - A battle that killed eight Americans at a pair of remote military bases in Afghanistan last weekend also left more than 100 insurgents dead, NATO said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The statement said that insurgent forces suffered "significantly higher losses than originally ...more

First strategic flight in support of ISAF
Sep 30, 2009

On 28 September 2009, the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) conducted its first mission in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The first ISAF-related flight by SAC's operational component, the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) based in Papa Airbase in Hungary, delivered ...more

Azerbaijan Deepens Military Cooperation with the U.S. and NATO
written by: Roger McDermott
Sep 23, 2009

On September 13 experts from the Center for Military Analytical Research in Baku launched an unprecedented attack on the Azeri defense ministry, arguing that the country had stepped back from its cooperation with the United States and NATO. The controversy erupted over a semantic nuance, which was ...more

U.S., Allies Vow Support for Karzai
written by: Karen DeYoung
Sep 28, 2009

The United States and NATO countries fighting in Afghanistan have told President Hamid Karzai's government that they expect him to remain in office for another five-year term and will work with him on an expanded campaign to turn insurgent fighters against the Taliban and other militant groups.

Secretary ...more

NATO´s new Strategic Concept - Why? How?
Sep 17, 2009

At their Summit in Strasbourg / Kehl on 3 and 4 April 2009, NATO's Heads of State and Government tasked the Secretary General to develop a new NATO Strategic Concept. This exercise should be completed by the time of NATO's next Summit, which is expected to take place towards the end of 2010. The ...more

NATO Nations Ask U.N. for New Afghan 'Timelines'
written by: Andrés Cala
Sep 10, 2009

MADRID - The Spanish defense minister, Carme Chacón, said Wednesday that five years would be a "reasonable" timeframe for NATO forces to withdraw from Afghanistan, just as major European powers officially called on the United Nations to convene an international conference before the end of ...more