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71. The Wisdom of Retrenchment: America Must Cut Back to Move Forward

Author:
Paul K. MacDonald and Joseph M. Parent
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The United States can no longer afford a world-spanning foreign policy. Retrenchment -- cutting military spending, redefining foreign priorities, and shifting more of the defense burden to allies -- is the only sensible course. Luckily, that does not have to spell instability abroad. History shows that pausing to recharge national batteries can renew a dominant power's international legitimacy.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, and Cold War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Washington

72. U.S. Missile Defence Site in Europe as an Aliance Security Dilemma

Author:
Lukáš KANTOR
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Obrana a strategie (Defence & Strategy)
Institution:
University of Defence
Abstract:
The main aim of this article is to provide a more solid theoretical anchor for numerous past and present debates about the various versions of American missile defence in Europe. The author claims that the neo-realism's concept of alliance security dilemma is the most appropriate framework for Czech, Polish, Romanian, and EU-wide experts'reflections and political decisions regarding the possible accepting of elements of American or NATO missile defence. Under appreciated explanatory power of the concept of the alliance's security dilemma is illustrated in the text on the case of the original Bush's plan of the so-called third pillar in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
United States, America, Europe, Poland, Rome, and Czech Republic

73. Peace and Development Efforts in Afghanistan: A Lost Decade

Author:
Patryk Kugiel
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
When international intervention put an end to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in late 2001 thousands of Afghans went out to the streets to celebrate a new beginning. After 20 years of bloody civil wars in the country, many had hoped that a new era of stability and prosperity was about to begin. The devastating terrorist attacks in the U.S., which brought the international coalition to Afghanistan, was seen as a guarantee that the West would not abandon the country before it was put back in order. Afghanistan could have been a model of post-conflict reconstruction.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, NATO, War, Law Enforcement, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

74. E Pluribus Unum: 21st-Century Citizenship and the Somali-American Experience

Author:
Owen Truesdell
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
This moment in American history represents a confluence of major national and international events almost unparalleled in modern history. The United States faces two major wars, a massive and seemingly intractable recession that has robbed many of its citizens of their livelihoods and savings, and a sclerotic system of American government that seems to have lost its ability to take on and overcome big challenges for the good of the American people. Internationally, the “Arab Spring” in the Middle East has led to the toppling of feckless dictators and a move toward democracy in Egypt. However, it has also led to the deaths of thousands of civilians, further political repression in certain parts of the region, and a civil war in Libya, which also features military action by NATO and the United States and its Arab and Western allies. This chaotic and troubling time presents numerous challenges for the United States and the world.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
United States, America, Middle East, Libya, Arabia, Egypt, and Somalia

75. Improving Afghan War Strategy

Author:
Michael E. O'Hanlon
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The year 2010 in Afghanistan had some encouraging signs but on balance it was less positive than had been hoped. In 2011, therefore, it is important to do two things: first, look for further improvements in our strategy; and second, develop a backup plan, should the current approach not yield the kind of progress that is necessary and expected.
Topic:
NATO, War, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Asia

76. Time to Reconsider Partition For Bosnia

Author:
Ted Galen Carpenter
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned the feuding ethnic factions in Bosnia and Herzegovina that if they did not resolve their differences, their country was in danger of missing its opportunity to join the European Union and NATO and become a vibrant part of the modern, democratic West. Unfortunately, there are few indications that her message will be heeded.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Bosnia

77. The Future of NATO

Author:
Whitney Shepardson
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
If the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) did not exist today, the United States would not seek to create it. In 1949, it made sense in the face of a potential Soviet invasion to forge a bond in the North Atlantic area among the United States, Canada, and the west European states. Today, if the United States were starting from scratch in a world of transnational threats, the debate would be over whether to follow liberal and neoconservative calls for an alliance of democracies without regard to geography or to develop a great power concert envisioned by the realists to uphold the current order.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, NATO, International Cooperation, International Organization, and International Security
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, and Soviet Union

78. Ukraine: A Challenge for U.S., EU NATO Regional Policy

Author:
Tamerlan Vahabov
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Institution:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Abstract:
President Barack Obama's current strategy of engagement with former adversaries is right on track. Russia stands out as a major short-term success story of this strategy. The signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) Agreement, achieving Russia's approval to use its territory as an alternative supply route for the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) operations in Afghanistan, and Russia's increased activity to pressure Iran on nuclear issues are remarkable. In the long run, Obama's main challenge will be to turn these concessions into sustained cooperation. Among all these questions of potential contention between the United States and Russia, this research paper will specifically center on Ukraine. Its key objective is to assess whether Ukraine's current institutional neutrality and its so far unreformed energy sector will negatively affect Ukrainian democracy and make Kiev increasingly lean toward Moscow's political orbit.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, United States, Europe, Iran, Ukraine, and Moscow

79. Mission Afghanistan: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Goes "Out of Area"

Author:
Gulshan Dietl
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization achieve twin objectives: to counter and contain the US influence in Eurasia and to balance the Russian and Chinese influence within a multilateral group in that space. Since its inception, the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and of its concerns and activities. Afghanistan, therefore, has been a virtual test- case of its commitment and the raison d'etre of its existence. It is also the first ever “Out of Area” operation that it has undertaken. Commit its mandate; not to have done so would have undermined its very credibility. Its “Out of Area” mission is modeled on the NATO example and has been duly acknowledged by NATO. Like any other regional organisati disunity. And like the rest of the world, it recognises the perils of an unstable Afghanistan. To that extent, it shares a common goal with the US that neither of them can achieve alone. It remains to be seen whet her SCO's recognition of a common goal and working towards it with the US will lead to a transcendence of its own ultimate objective of containment and eventual rollback of the US from its strategic neighbourhood.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, United States, Eurasia, and Shanghai

80. An anvil of clay: Pakistan's military balks at Obama's Afghan surge

Author:
Robert Matthews
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
Pakistan's cooperation is crucial to the success of the current US and Nato strategy in Afghanistan. Yet the Pakistani military not only has misgivings about the Nato surge but also its own agenda. Central to the discord is the military's view of the Afghan Taliban as assets to counter rival India's spreading Afghan footprint. The military views the US surge and the 18-month timeframe as acts of desperation by the Obama administration – as well as a vindication of Pakistan's strategy of keeping its options open through a “selective counter-insurgency approach”. Thus, there is little indication that Pakistan is willing to undertake campaigns against militants in the tribal areas. Or play the role of anvil to the US hammer along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
Topic:
NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, and South Asia