RSS

You are atlantic-community.org. All registered members are invited to contribute to the Open Think Thank.

Publish and share your views on current issues relevant to the wider transatlantic community as Your Opinion, and post your best papers or studies in Your Research.

Your work will be immediately published for peer review and exposure within atlantic-community.org and beyond. Publish here and get noticed by prominent publications.

You can also recommend books and ask the Atlantic Community for any assistance with your studies or work, or provide help and advice to fellow members.

If you are not yet a member of atlantic-community.org, join now. Registration only takes a minute and enables you to network with more than 1000 peers. Contact the editorial team, if you need any assistance. We are here to help.

If you are registered and logged-in, then just click on the PUBLISH button to post your contribution on atlantic-community.org.

Italy's New Role as a Major Transatlantic Partner

Oreste Foppiani: Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi is changing Mediterranean politics, bringing new importance to Italy’s role in the EU as well as its role in the world. This could bring great changes to the plans of the European Armed Forces and global security issues.

The leader of the Italian government, Mr. Berlusconi, is commanding his administration much differently than in his previous terms in office. In fact, the 2008 cabinet has been acclaimed not only by President Bush, but also by President Sarkozy, who inaugurated a new axis Paris-Rome withi n his highly publicized Union pour la Méditerrannée (UPM). In fact, thanks to the Franco-Italian military engagement in ...More

EU and Arab Gulf States: Untapped Cooperation Opportunities

Leonie Holthaus: The US cannot guarantee the security of the Arab Gulf states any longer. Therefore, these countries have started diplomatic initiatives themselves to enhance the regional security situation. The EU would be well advised to enlarge its cooperation with the GCC states, so that it not only includes economic but also security issues.

One side-effect of the Bush administration's Middle East policy that has not received much attention is the declining popularity of the United States among the Arab Gulf states. For decades the US has been the key external actor and security guarantor to the population-poor but oil-rich monarchies. However, there are still various unresolved threats in the Middle East such as the instability of Lebanon and the Iranian ...More

Think Tank Analysis: Asking Financial Markets for a Viennese Waltz

Andreas Kern: This research note by Christian Fahrholz and myself depicts a new line of argument for the current global financial turmoil and especially the recent American financial crisis.

Imagine someone would have told you two years ago that mid September 2008 unrivalled stars of Wall Street and international financial markets, e.g. Lehman Brothers, AIG and HBOS, are playing the blues on Wall Street after enjoying years of Viennese waltz. This week such international investors seek shelter as the current global financial gale leaves its mark on all parties. I guess not only your answer, but also the reactions of most ...More

Kyrgyzstan's Lessons from the Russian-Georgian War

Askarbek Erkinovich Mambetaliev: Many commentators are looking to Kyrgyzstan to express its “creed” about the Russia-Georgia conflict, considering Kyrgyzstan a key country in Central Asia. It seems no one wants to cross the “older brother” Russia. Therefore, President Kurmanbek Bakiev must act wisely in this situation.

Russia wants to be the controlling "brother" in Central Asia. Moscow sincerely believes, as President Dmitry Medvedev has said, "Russia has historically been the guarantor of security for the peoples of the Caucasus." My sincere sympathy for the new president of Russia notwithstanding, this patronizing attitude stems from the traditional Russian habit of dividing the world into "ours" and "theirs" -- without considering ...More

Redefine the Concept of Independence

Hall Gardner: Moscow’s decision to recognize South Ossetian and Abkhazian independence has begun to backfire: Russia has been widely criticized for its actions and the events in Georgia could provoke nationalist claims for independence within Russia itself. Redefining the concept of “independence” might be a way out of the crisis.

The Russian decision to recognize South Ossetian and Abkhazian claims to independence has begun to backfire politically -- in terms of Russia's own global and domestic interests. Not only has Moscow been criticized by the US and European Union for its actions, but also by China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which, on principle, have generally opposed the right of national independence and secessionism. Moreover, Russian support ...More

The US and UN Should Resolve Election-Law Tensions in Iraq

Sarwar Amin: The Iraqi Parliament will soon embark on a daunting task of re-deliberating on the controversial Provincial Election Law. The Kurds feel like they are being treated unfairly. The US and UN must help the process.

The Iraqi Parliament will soon embark on a daunting task of re-deliberating on the controversial Provincial Election Law. The law is meant to loosen the grip of the central government over the provinces and regions. The law was passed in July, after the Kurdish fraction and some members of the United Iraqi Alliance, including the two Deputies of the President of the Council, had walked out of the session. The Presidency ...More

NATO and the Forgotten War

Djörn Eversteijn: Afghanistan is the litmus test for the relevance of history’s most successful military alliance in the 21st century. Despite official statements that emphasize the importance of the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan, both member states’ long-term commitment and substantial contributions to the mission remain largely absent. Member states’ unwillingness not only endangers the future of Afghanistan, but, perhaps even more importantly, also puts the future of the transatlantic alliance at risk.

Notwithstanding NATO's efforts to create a stable, democratic, and secure Afghanistan, the country remains unstable and highly insecure. Both the Afghan National Army and the Afghan police forces are poorly organized, underfunded, inadequately equipped, and prone to corruption and defection and therefore unable to guarantee security. The radical Islamic Taliban regime has maintained influence in several regions of the country, hindering reconstruction ...More

It is Time to Withdraw From Afghanistan

Bernhard Lucke: It is not lack of civil investment, but the occupation that is the problem in Afghanistan. The “war on terror” is creating terrorism instead of controlling it. We are getting used to eroding morals and rising brutality, a way which may lead to new big wars.

For seven years, we have been fighting for "freedom and democracy" in Afghanistan, "defending the Occident at the Hindukush". For seven years, we have acknowledged the need to invest more in civil reconstruction. But things are getting worse every year. When will the situation improve? Will it ever improve? No politician commenting on Afghanistan forgets to say "we are there because we have no choice". Are the alternatives only: ...More

Presidential Elections Will Not Shape US Foreign Policy

David Neil Lebhar: While the race between Obama and McCain is too close to call, US voters and the world must realize that the two candidates’ foreign policy positions are not especially different. Furthermore, due to economic instability, domestic concerns, and a shifting geo-political balance, the next president will have to react to international issues through re-defined multilateralism.

The panel discussion, "After the Conventions: The Race to the White House," featured experts who debated the Democratic and Republican campaigns from economic, political, and social perspectives. The event was a joint program of the US Embassy in Berlin and The German Marshall Fund of The United States in cooperation with The Federal State Representation of Rhineland-Palatinate. The panelists were: Dr. Alexander Lennon, ...More

Obama and Biden: No Fundamental Change on Iraq Policy

Reidar Visser: US presidential candidates, Democrats and Republicans alike, continue to ignore the shifting political realities in Iraq. Obama and Biden consistently portray the principal dynamic of Iraqi politics as a struggle between Shiites and Sunnis, whereas the main front in Baghdad is between two essentially cross-sectarian coalitions.

At long last, some individuals in American policy-making circles are beginning to realize that the fundamental cleavage in Iraqi politics is not between Shiites and Sunnis and Kurds. Thanks not least to a couple of excellent articles by Sam Parker of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), there is growing awareness that the main front in Baghdad is between two loose coalitions that are essentially cross-sectarian in ...More