Black Sea: A Pressure Point Between NATO and Russia
Black Sea security has become a top NATO concern since Russia’s incursion in eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. A lot of Russia’s ships and aircraft being used in Syria come out of the Black...
View ArticleNATO Zeros In on Black Sea Security
Russia and NATO countries are going tit for tat in the Black Sea region.In 2014, Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Over the past...
View ArticleDealing with Turkey: Don’t Expect Miracles
Turkey has once again been very much on Europeans’ minds. This time, the issue has been about the Turkish referendum on April 16 over whether the country moves from its current parliamentary system to...
View ArticleEurope Intel Sharing Will Take Trust
A spike in terrorist attacks in Europe over the past couple of years has reignited the debate over how to improve European intelligence collection and sharing.The ISIS-claimed terror shooting in Paris...
View ArticleHow European Intel Services Connect the Dots
Intelligence cooperation within Europe can get messy. There are national intelligence units, European Union (EU) intel structures, and ones within NATO. How all of these different institutions...
View ArticleNo Spy Superstructure in Europe
There has been talk for decades of creating an overarching intelligence structure that works to keep the continent secure, but it has taken on new urgency with the recent increase in terror attacks in...
View ArticleWorlds Collide in the French Election
French voters have a choice of two worlds May 7 between the internationalist, centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and the isolationist, far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. The...
View ArticleMarine Le Pen: Withdrawal From NATO?
French voters head to the polls Sunday to choose their next president: centrist Emmanuel Macron or far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. On the campaign trail, Le Pen has advocated closer...
View ArticleEmmanuel Macron: More of the Same?
On defense and security, it is an understatement to say that French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s proposals represent a direct continuation of the policies of the past five years. With the...
View ArticleWestern Balkans in Russia’s Crosshairs
As NATO prepares to add another small Balkan country to its ranks – Montenegro is expected to join on June 5 – the region that has long been torn between the East and the West, and plagued with...
View ArticleWill the Balkan Tinderbox Ignite, Again?
There are many differences between the Balkans and the Middle East, but they have two things in common. Both regions are former pieces of the Ottoman Empire that have not found stability since that...
View ArticleMontenegro Needs U.S., NATO Help to Fend off Russians
The U.S. Senate last month overwhelmingly voted for Montenegro’s accession into NATO. President Donald Trump signed off on this, writing in a letter to the Senate, “the inclusion of Montenegro in the...
View ArticleAmerica First? Why the U.S. Can’t Go It Alone – And Neither Can Europe
Donald Trump’s interactions with our European Allies and his renunciation of the Paris Climate Accords have left our Allies baffled and startled. Faced with “America First” their reaction is to look...
View ArticleNever Waste a Good Crisis: Forcing Europe to Stand Up for Itself
U.S. President Donald Trump shook the post-war foundation of German foreign policy: its integration into the European Union (EU) and NATO. By questioning Pax Americana and trying to divide and conquer...
View ArticleEurope Is Boosting Defense Spending – And It’s Not All About Trump
America’s commitment to European security is up in the air under the Trump Administration, raising the question, will Europeans have to take more responsibility for their own defense?Europe must “take...
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