The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been the most successful military alliance in the modern era, and it remains strategically important to the United States. Its heart and soul remain the Article V commitment to collective defense. Yet today, the alliance is being challenged to undertake missions both in and out of area, such as in Afghanistan, that is straining its resources and its cohesiveness. NATO needs not only a new Strategic Concept, but more flexible decision-making processes and more equitable burden sharing of risks and responsibilities to continue to succeed.
President Barack Obama recently announced a new strategy to lead the 43-nation NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan to victory. Read More.
The removal of American tactical nuclear weapons from European and NATO bases would spell the end of the alliance and the concept of indivisible security. Read More.
Pakistan missed a valuable opportunity to create goodwill with the U.S. and other NATO members when it failed to announce a reopening of NATO supply routes to Afghanistan at the summit held Sunday and Monday in Chicago. Not only has Pakistan’s closure of the supply routes over the past six…
Abstract: The 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago is an opportunity for the U.S. to provide much-needed leadership for NATO. The United States should push NATO members to keep their current commitments to Afghanistan and commit to supporting Afghanistan after NATO forces withdraw. At the…
Testimony before The Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia United States House of Representatives …
This year, Turkey celebrates its 60th anniversary as a member of the NATO alliance. As a Muslim-majority country with close ties to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, Turkey’s participation in NATO is integral to the alliance’s influence beyond Europe’s borders. However, while Turkish membership provides the alliance with extended…
In May, NATO leaders will meet for the annual heads of state and government summit in Chicago. Absent from the summit’s agenda is the issue of enlargement—a pillar of the alliance. Since taking office, President Obama has done little to support the membership of qualified candidates. This year’s NATO summit…
Since the end of World War II, the U.S. has played a vital role in the defense and security of Europe. This role has been carried out primarily through the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Today, the U.S. commitment to NATO is not about protecting Europeans from…
The Obama Administration has attached little importance to the transatlantic alliance, and Europe has barely figured in its foreign policy. The Administration’s highly touted “pivot to Asia” is simply a belated admission that it has less interest in Europe than any post–1945 U.S. Administration. While Europe is the home of…
FYI: Heritage WebMemos are now called Issue Briefs. As part of a policy that is leading to strategic shrinkage in the…
President Obama will host British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on March 13–14. The official visit will be dominated by the eurozone crisis, developments in Syria, Iran’s nuclear program, and Afghanistan. For the U.K., the Falkland Islands will also be an important agenda item. In addition, this…
In December 2010, the Senate’s resolution of ratification to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) imposed a condition to begin a next round of arms negotiations on tactical nuclear weapons systems between the Obama Administration and Russia. It is essential that the Administration does not make concessions to…
The Obama Administration has been banking on Pakistani cooperation with its strategy to start a political reconciliation process inside Afghanistan as it withdraws U.S troops from the battlefield and shifts responsibility for security operations to the Afghan forces. Pakistani leaders have demonstrated little interest in assisting the U.S.…
Introduction With the end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been a growing chorus of cries for the United States to lift the economic embargo on Cuba. This chorus has included even such responsible anti-communist voices as those of former President…
On November 19, NATO leaders will meet in Lisbon for a formal heads-of-state summit. The dominant issue for the United States will be the adoption of NATO’s new Strategic Concept, the first of the new millennium. However, the Obama Administration should also throw its weight behind further expansion of the…
Abstract: The Kremlin is using anti-Americanism as a strategic tool for pursuing domestic and foreign policy goals. Through media controlled or owned by the state, the Russian government is deliberately spreading poisonous anti-U.S. propaganda at home and abroad, blaming many of Russia's problems on the West, particularly the United States.…
Abstract: The policies of the United States and the European Union should encourage and support Russian civil society and Russia’s democratic modernizers. And, if Russia continues to abrogate its international commitments to basic freedoms and human rights, the…
During the NATO meeting in Chicago, the alliance will declare that it has an interim operational capability to defend...…
At the NATO Summit in Chicago this weekend, leaders will gather to discuss a number of issues facing the alliance. Top...…
The long-awaited NATO Summit being held in Chicago next week with more than 60 heads of state and government in...…
No one outside of the White House knows exactly why the President decided to move the G-8 meeting this Friday from...…
[caption id="attachment_97632" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Francois Hollande, Socialist candidate to the...…
[caption id="attachment_97310" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso...…
Next month NATO leaders will meet in Chicago for the heads of state and government summit. The agenda will primarily...…
Heritage’s Peter Brookes wrote a recent column for the New York Post entitled “A Dangerous U.S. Drawdown” on President...…
In the wake of a U.S. Army staff sergeant’s murdering 16 Afghan civilians (mostly women and children), U.S. officials...…
Details are still emerging on the killings of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier in Kandahar province. U.S. officials...…
Senior Research Fellow in Anglo-American Relations
Deputy Director, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and Director, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies
Director, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom
Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, and Director, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies