After Winning Elections Atambayev Focuses On the US Transit Center
Kyrgyzstan’s new president-elect Almazbek Atambayev has once again hinted that he wants the US Transit Center at Manas out of Kyrgyzstan by the time coalition forces leave Afghanistan. “In 2014 the United States will have to withdraw its military base from the ‘Manas’ international airport,” Atambayev said on November 1. READ MORE
Growing Afghanistan Doubts
Concern inside the U.S. military that Afghanistan is not going to end well is heating up. It's always been simmering, but now seems to be coming to a slow boil. Lately, at least in private conversations with officers up and down the chain, the concerns are becoming louder. READ MORE
America’s Secret Libya War
The U.S. military has spent about $1 billion on Libya’s revolution, and secretly helped NATO with everything from munitions to surveillance aircraft. John Barry provides an exclusive look at Obama’s emerging 'covert intervention' strategy. READ MORE
Thoughts on the U.S.-Russian “Reset”
It has been three years since the start of the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. The anniversary of the war’s beginning is a good occasion to reflect on how far U.S.-Russians relations fell during the Bush years, and how much they have been repaired in the last two and a half years. At present, inveterate opponents of the “reset” policy are doing their best to undermine this improved relationship. The “reset” was designed in no small part to undo much of the damage caused by Bush administration policy and the aftermath of the 2008 war, and in many respects it has been such an obvious success that its critics are usually reduced to whining about how it has failed to solve things it was never intended to fix. Russia still has a culture of “legal nihilism,” it is a one-party, illiberal authoritarian state that suppresses and criminalizes dissent, and real political opposition is not permitted. The “reset” has not changed any of this, but it was never supposed to, and there is no way that U.S. policy towards Russia can change this. READ MORE
The U.S.-Saudi Dilemma: Iran's Reshaping of Persian Gulf Politics
Something extraordinary, albeit not unexpected, is happening in the Persian Gulf region. The United States, lacking a coherent strategy to deal with Iran and too distracted to develop one, is struggling to navigate Iraq’s fractious political landscape in search of a deal that would allow Washington to keep a meaningful military presence in the country beyond the end-of-2011 deadline stipulated by the current Status of Forces Agreement. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, dubious of U.S. capabilities and intentions toward Iran, appears to be inching reluctantly toward an accommodation with its Persian adversary. READ MORE
Lithuanian-U.S. cooperation priorities discussed between Grybauskaite and Clinton
President Dalia Grybauskaite met with Unites States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, currently visiting Vilnius at her invitation, to discuss energy and regional security issues, Lithuanian-U.S. cooperation priorities, and prospects of democratic development in the neighboring countries. READ MORE
U.S. May Place Fighter Jets in Poland
WARSAW — President Barack Obama, set to visit Warsaw this month, will announce the details of a permanent move of U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets to Poland from the Aviano Air Base in Italy, the Polish press reports today. If the plan becomes reality, the move will irk Russia and may become a serious test of the quality of the reset in relations between Washington and Moscow, as well as those between Moscow and Warsaw. READ MORE
U.S. and Romania Move on Missile Plan
WASHINGTON — The United States and Romania announced an agreement on Tuesday on the location for basing American antimissile interceptors in Romania as part of a program designed to link Washington and its NATO allies against an Iranian threat. The agreement immediately drew complaints from Russian officials. READ MORE
Iraq, Iran and the Next Move
The United States told the Iraqi government last week that if it wants U.S. troops to remain in Iraq beyond the deadline of Dec. 31, 2011, as stipulated by the current Status of Forces Agreement between Washington and Baghdad, it would have to inform the United States quickly. Unless a new agreement is reached soon, the United States will be unable to remain. The implication in the U.S. position is that a complex planning process must be initiated to leave troops there and delays will not allow that process to take place. READ MORE
Time for Plan B
A 14-year effort to negotiate an international treaty banning the production of nuclear weapons fuel is getting nowhere. Under the terms of the United Nations’ Conference on Disarmament, all 65 participants must agree. Pakistan, which is racing to develop the world’s fifth largest arsenal, is refusing to let the talks move forward. READ MORE
