Holding the Front Line Against Terrorism: NATO’s Essential Role in Iraq
NATO Mission Iraq trains and advises Iraqi armed forces and government security agencies on a wide array of tasks against a number of terrorist threats. The evolution of NATO’s training mission in Iraq underlines its continuing need; NATO should consider exporting this model to other fragile states like Syria and Lebanon Throughout the period from […]
Europe Faces a Threat Bigger Than Russia: Its Own Balkanization
Bridge construction in the Western Balkans may be a microcosm of Europe’s fragmented, post-American future. During the Kosovo War of 1998-1999, the main bridge over the river Ibar in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica was an important focal point. “On one side, sitting in chairs outside the Dolce Vita bar and listening to Italian music, are […]
Assad’s Legacy of Chemical Weapons
The events that unfolded in Syria over the last weeks surprised not only the United States, but also Russia, Iran, and the Syrian people themselves. As Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus for asylum in Russia, his security forces shed their uniforms and their weapons and disappeared into the countryside. One of the most concerning things still […]
Turkey’s Threat to Block NATO Cooperation with Israel
On July 12, at the NATO summit in Washington, Turkey threatened to take steps to exclude Israel from all cooperation with NATO. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that “until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey.” This threat should be challenged by […]
Planning for Postwar Gaza: Lessons from Kosovo
As the war in Gaza drags on, so do efforts to identify a model for postwar governance and security. The experience of Kosovo following NATO’s 1999 expulsion of Serbian forces may offer some lessons. A Brief History Refresher In March 1999, in the wake of a growing Kosovo Liberation Army insurgency, an upturn in Serbian […]
Ghosts at the Banquet: The Washington NATO Summit
The Vilnius NATO summit of 2023 was stalked by a spectre. How would the allies deal with Ukraine’s NATO aspirations while its vaunted counter-offensive had gotten off to a sputtering start, amidst nuclear saber rattling by Vladimir Putin and his henchmen, eliciting in turn a focus on “escalation management” by Joe Biden’s national security team. […]
Russia’s Targeting of Civilians in Ukraine: A Ukrainian Response
On July 8, Russia launched a barrage of missiles that hit the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, killing at least 38 persons. One missile demolished the ward which cared for child patients on dialysis. The explosion was so powerful that the top floor of the building collapsed; the shockwave and secondary shrapnel destroyed two other […]
Eastern European Views of the Upcoming US Presidential Elections
Despite Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Eastern Europeans feel secure today. They have confidence in NATO as an organization led by the United States and thus appreciated in Moscow as strong. At the same time, some politicians and diplomats in Eastern Europe wonder what might happen to their countries if Donald Trump wins the presidential elections […]
A Multinational Authority for “the Day After” in Gaza
Hamas’s terrorist attack of October 7 and the Israeli, American, and Iranian/Iranian proxy responses have already fundamentally changed the Middle East. The priority now rightly is on ending the fighting, yet history shows that what comes after a war is as important as combat results in securing a lasting peace. To ensure that an attack […]
The Collective West Needs to Stand up for Ukraine
I am a child of the Cold War. Growing up in Sweden, I was acutely aware of the occupation and suffering of the Baltic peoples. I visited Estonia and Latvia for the first time in 1974. In Riga I met a young Latvian who told me instantly: “We live in an occupied country.” My dream […]
