New Atlanticist

Afghanistan: Implementation Trumps Planning

Harlan Ullman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:53:05 -0500

Presumably, the Obama administration will soon decide on its strategy and accompanying plan for Afghanistan and the region. No matter what it does, there are three certainties. First, Obama's choices range from bad to worse. Second, the plan will be savaged by critics of both the left and right.

Climate and Energy the Dominant Challenges of 21st Century

Wald Goodman Catarious — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:36:56 -0500

As 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it also marks the beginning of a new era of challenges posed by threats that were little recognized and less appreciated those 20 short years ago: climate change and energy security.

Hasan: Tens of Thousands of Like Him in West

Arnaud de Borchgrave — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:09:06 -0500

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is the proverbial canary in the mine. Gunning down 12 soldiers and one civilian, and wounding 31 was not a random act of violence by an army psychiatrist who was slated to deploy to Afghanistan, an evil war in his mind, where American infidels are killing good Muslims.

Helmut Kohl on the Fall of the Wall and German Reunification

Helmut Kohl — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:48:11 -0500

2009 is a special year for anniversaries. We celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. Inextricably linked to this, we also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany on May 23, 1949, and of NATO on April 4, 1949.

Germany Should Support Nabucco

Alexandros Petersen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0500

Rügen is best known as a popular German tourist destination. But now the Baltic Sea island has taken on a new role as staging point for an energy project that is as ambitious as it is controversial: the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

1989's False Promise

Kenneth Weisbrode — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:53:50 -0500

Twenty years is not a very long time in history but the fall of the Berlin Wall already seems like another era. The euphoria, confidence and excitement that accompanied that event were overtaken in short order by cynicism, fear and doubt resulting, according to some quarters at least, from American triumphalism.

Critical Decision Point in Afghanistan

Don Snow — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:46:23 -0500

Although supporters of the Afghan War (including the Obama administration) hate the comparison, the outcome of the recent runoff election fiasco in Afghanistan suggests a parallel with the American experience in Vietnam.

Jim Jones on the National Security Climate

Frederick Kempe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:35:45 -0500

Atlantic Council president and CEO Frederick Kempe recently interviewed James L. Jones , National Security Advisor to President Obama and former Chairman of the Atlantic Council Board of Directors.

America's New Partnership with Central Europe

Jeffrey Lightfoot — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:15:00 -0500

In his remarks in Bucharest, the U.S. Vice President Biden celebrated the democratic and economic development of Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of communism twenty years ago.

President George H.W. Bush on the Fall of the Berlin Wall

George H.W. Bush — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:15:00 -0500

I am delighted to join the Atlantic Council in commemorating the 60th Anniversary of NATO and the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The Fall of the Wall was first and foremost a testament to the spirit of the German people.