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Begin New Search Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution Atlantic Council

211. NATO Reform and Decision-Making

Author:
Kurt Volker and Edgar Buckley
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
How can an organization of 28 sovereign countries act together effi ciently to agree policies, invest in common capabilities, manage crises and conduct military operations based on consensus? Obviously, not at all – unless it is founded on strong fundamental principles and shared values, agreed strategies and a tradition of mutual trust. That has always been the assumption underlying NATO's constitutional approach.
Topic:
NATO, International Cooperation, and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe and North America

212. NATO's Nuclear Policy in 2010

Author:
Annette Heuser and Walter Slocombe
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
A critical question for the new Strategic Concept is whether NATO's nuclear policy as outlined in 1999 needs to be altered and, if so, how. This issue brief outlines the questions that will need to be addressed and offers recommendations for addressing nuclear policy in the new Strategic Concept.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, International Cooperation, Nuclear Weapons, and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe and North America

213. NATO Initiatives for an Era of Global Competition

Author:
Franklin D. Kramer
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The transatlantic partnership has historically been at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been at the heart of the partnership. But the factors that long made "transatlantic" the dominant foreign policy construct have fundamentally changed – and with it has come a need for concomitant strategic and operational changes to meet new requirements.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, International Cooperation, and Reform
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and North America

214. Bulgaria Energy Sector

Author:
Boyko Nitzov, Ruslan Stefanov, Valentina Nikolova, and Dobromir Hristov
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Energy security in Central-Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region is fraught with risks. By virtue of its geography, Bulgaria finds itself in a difficult nexus, drawn into Eurasia's contentious energy geopolitics and as a European Union member, involved in the Union's fragmented energy policy and complex regulatory, energy efficiency and climate change objectives. That position is challenging, but it also presents decision-makers in Sofia with opportunities.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, and Bulgaria

215. Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO's Strategic Concept

Author:
Boyko Noev and Harlan Ullman
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is overseeing the drafting of NATO's latest Strategic Concept, set to replace the current version approved in 1999. Even though only a decade has passed, changes across the globe have been stunning and in some cases revolutionary. For NATO, we believe the challenge of the Strategic Concept is to address the question of whether NATO is still relevant or whether it has become a relic. We strongly believe the former. However, that can no longer be taken for granted. Twenty years after the Soviet Union imploded, the Alliance must finally find a new strategic anchor for its raison d'être or deal with the implications of becoming a relic or an Alliance that may have served its purpose.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Asia

216. NATO, Terrorism and Irregular Threats

Author:
Julian Lindley-French and Sebastian Gorka
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Today's NATO is not the NATO of the Cold War. Nor is it even the NATO of just a decade ago. If the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and then the USSR were not enough to fundamentally alter the geopolitical reality the Alliance found itself in, then the events of September 11, 2001 should be considered an evolutionary marker in the development of modern history's "most successful" alliance.
Topic:
Cold War, Terrorism, and Non State Actors
Political Geography:
Europe and North America

217. International Maritime Safety and Security Exchange: A Promising Business Model for Global Maritime Safety and Security

Author:
Harry G. Ulrich
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The United States Government experienced a remarkable rebirth in aviation security after 9/11. We have become familiar with air marshals, enhanced baggage screening, passenger information exchanges, no-fly lists, body scanning and travel document standardization. As our image of aviation security matures, we have become more accepting of previously objectionable government-authorized technological applications, routines and procedures. In fact, we are much more appreciative of the persistent dimension of aviation security, especially after the attempted hijacking or destruction of American Airlines Flight 63 by the "shoe bomber" Richard Reid on December 22, 2001 or more recently Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009 by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Topic:
Maritime Commerce and Reform
Political Geography:
United States and North America

218. Deploying Knowledge: Reforming and Modernizing NATO Defense Education

Author:
Julian Lindley-French and Harlan Ullman
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
NATO must do more with less. The only way this can work is to exercise our intellects and brainpower. That leads to the absolute need for a continuous learning process in which knowledge and understanding are the goals. The complexity of the strategic environment demands no less. This applies to all ranks and services.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe and North America

219. Uncertain Kyrgyzstan: Rebalancing U.S. Policy

Author:
Ross Wilson and Damon Wilson
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Kyrgyzstan is lurching forward, its future uncertain. Eleven weeks after street protests forced the collapse of the regime of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and three weeks after the worst ethnic violence in the country's history, a measure of security-enforced calm has returned. The apparently successful June 27 referendum on a new constitution and mandate for Interim President Roza Otunbayeva will provide legitimacy and confidence to the government. But Otunbayeva and the group around her appear to underestimate the difficulties they face and to overestimate their ability to control events. They will have to work hard to overcome divisions among their ranks, staggering political and economic challenges, the risks of renewed violence in the south and antipathy toward Kyrgyzstan elsewhere in Central Asia.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Central Asia

220. It's Time to Ratify the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaties

Author:
Damon Wilson, Jonathan Ruemelin, and Jeff Lightfoot
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
This week, David Cameron will visit Washington for the first time as Prime Minister to reaffirm Great Britain's 'special relationship' with the United States. Cameron will look to build on his June meeting with President Obama in Toronto as well as the recent visit of UK defense secretary Liam Fox by returning to Great Britain with concrete deliverables in exchange for London's long-standing staunch support of U.S. foreign policy goals. Despite his criticism of former PMs Blair and Brown's handling of the relationship with Washington, Cameron has vowed early in his tenure as prime minister to continue the UK's strong engagement in Afghanistan and to put a priority on relations with Washington. His ministers have nonetheless cautioned that London would not "slavishly" follow Washington's lead. A successful visit, as judged by the British public and media, will help end the unhelpful debate in the UK on the health of the 'special relationship.'
Topic:
Defense Policy, Treaties and Agreements, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and North America