New Atlanticist - Policy and Analysis Blog | Headlines - October 9, 2009

Defensive on Missile Defense
Jeffrey Lightfoot | October 09, 2009

A series of briefings by General Patrick O’Reilly of the Missile Defense Agency, Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher, and Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Nacht at the Atlantic Council on Wednesday provided a strong case and rationale for the administration’s recent decision on missile defense in Europe. READ MORE

Pakistan's Trust Deficit
Arnaud de Borchgrave | October 09, 2009

Before we throw caution to the wind and build a new embassy in Islamabad, a la Baghdad, fit for 1,000 employees, let's first acquire a proper understanding of the nature of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. READ MORE

Turkey Should Pursue Green, Not Nuclear Energy
Borut Grgic | October 09, 2009

Turkey is set to go nuclear. The Erdoğan government has put all the pieces in place for the beginning of the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. There is nothing wrong with Turkey’s civil nuclear ambition, except there is no need for it. READ MORE

Reversal Near in Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy?
Andrew Kessinger | October 09, 2009

Is the Pentagon starting to reverse its support of Don't Ask, Don't Tell? In a telling article in this month's Joint Force Quarterly, Air Force Colonel Om Prakash asserts, "after a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly." READ MORE

Calling President Blair
Nicholas Siegel | October 08, 2009

We may soon have an answer to Henry Kissinger’s infamous question: “Who do I call when I want to call Europe?” And, depending on how things go, it could become a very familiar phone number. READ MORE

The Lisbon Treaty and EU Foreign Policy: The View from Europe
Benjamin Preisler | October 08, 2009

After the resounding Irish approval of the Lisbon Treaty, its ratification is almost assured ... pending signatures of the euroskeptic Polish and Czech Presidents that is. READ MORE

Will Biden's Reassurance Trip Succeed?
Nikolas Gvosdev | October 08, 2009

Politico's Laura Rozen is reporting that Vice President Joe Biden will travel later this month to Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland. The vice president is emerging as the administration's "perestrakhovshchik" – the "reinsurer." READ MORE

Afghanistan: The Options Debate
Donald M. Snow | October 08, 2009

During the past week, General Stanley McChrystal’s leaked redacted report on his needs for prosecuting the war in Afghanistan has sparked an increasingly public debate about where US policy should be heading. One fascinating aspect of this debate surrounds the leaking of the McChrystal recommendations to Washington Post analyst Bob Woodward: who did it? and why? READ MORE

Stakes are Higher in Pakistan than Afghanistan
Harlan Ullman | October 07, 2009

In Afghanistan, the Obama administration faces an array of agonizing choices, none of which is good. Making matters worse, the most important strategic issue is not Afghanistan. The strategic fulcrum in containing and defeating the insurgency that is spilling over and across the Hindu Kush is Pakistan. READ MORE

Nabucco Edging Ahead of South Stream?
Alexandros Petersen | October 07, 2009

At the opening of the Atlantic Council’s Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum in Bucharest on September 30, you couldn’t ask for a better mix of commercial and geopolitical interests when it comes to energy development in Eurasia. But not because the speakers represented a government and the private sector. READ MORE