Transatlantic Solidarity Starts at Home

Transatlantic Convergence on Passenger Data Questions
Michael Chertoff, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security

U.S. insistence on keeping data on international travelers, once controversial, is being adopted by EU governments as part of their own homeland defense.

Cyber War I: Estonia Attacked from Russia
Kertu Ruus, U.S. bureau chief, Äripäev

A new dimension of cyber security – against a new kind of electronic warfare – emerged when tech-savvy Estonia, a NATO ally, came under massive attack by Russia-based hackers. Thousands of computers were targeted on bringing down the tiny country’s civilian infrastructure. Western defenses are still in their infancy.

NATO Caveats Can Be Made To Work Better for the Alliance
Robert E. Hunter, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO

NATO operations are hobbled by the national “caveats” that governments put on the way their forces can be used. This divisive issue is not going away, so allied leaders need to think creatively about how governments can compensate for these limitations.

Faraway Afghanistan Brings Home Tensions Among Allies
James Leathers, editorial assistant, European Affairs

Fearing a stalemate in Afghanistan that would be tantamount to defeat for NATO, the Bush administration is browbeating the European allies to step up their military role.

The Declining Dollar – Both a Symptom and a Symbol of U.S. Financial Negligence
J. Paul Horne, independent international market economist

U.S. economic woes have worked to Europe’s advantage in some ways, but not enough to show that European economies have become strong enough to “decouple” from the gyrations across the Atlantic. America’s self-inflicted wounds can hurt everyone.

Sense and Nonsense About European Security Policy
Michael Brenner, Professor of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

For Europe to punch its weight in global affairs, the leaders of the European Union need to think more lucidly and more realistically about what their actual security priorities should be. Tough obstacles persist, but clarity could help.

“Shock Therapy” Worked for the Post-Communist Countries
Anders Åslund, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

A magisterial survey documenting events in the post-Soviet nations proves that market economics have taken hold and produced good results. But political transitions are faltering on democracy. The author of this landmark study sums up his findings.

A Roundtable Discussion

Reflecting the huge surpluses of savings in some countries and the need for capital in Western nations, these state-run funds can save financially-weakened companies. Can new rules of the road head off a backlash in the U.S. and Europe. Three experts debate.

Turkey’s Islamic Party Sees Advantage in EU Bid
F. Stephen Larrabee, Corporate Chair in European Security, the RAND Corporation

In a shift in Turkey’s domestic political dynamics, the key advocate of EU membership has turned out to be the ruling Islamic party. The strongly secularist Turkish army is wary of EU demands. This shift is part of Turkey's current domestic turbulence.

Misreading Berlin in the Lead into the Iraq War
Germans have developed a new mindset, especially about military force, and they are offended, not swayed, by attempts to play on their nation’s guilt for World War II. How badly Bush and Blair blundered in misunderstanding this new Germany is described by Serfaty in this excerpt from his new book, Architects of Delusion.

Kosovo: It IS a Real Geopolitical Precedent
David Young, Graduate Student, George Mason University, Virginia

Supporters of independence for Kosovo because of its painful recent history ignore the fact that Western indifference permitted a cycle of terrorism and repression. That is the real lesson.

Poland’s Foreign Minister Sikorski Seeks Solidarity, Not Provocation

European Affairs traces the path that has brought a new, more statesmanlike tone to Polish foreign policy. As both Warsaw (and Prague) proceed with plans to accept the U.S. missile defense system, Sikorski sets the initiative in broader NATO context.

Saving the Arctic, Now
Rafe Pomerance, President, Clean Air-Cool Planet and Armond Cohen, President, Clean Air Task Force

The Arctic is leading a global meltdown and Greenland is the worst hot spot – partly because it collects “black carbon” as tiny soot particles that intensify the heat. Emissions of this sort could be quickly and effectively reversed if collective action is taken now.

An Emergency Coordination Center Is Needed for a New Frontier
George Newton, former Chairman, U.S. Arctic Research Commission

As global warming unfreezes the Arctic, these literally uncharted waters are going to be plied by shipping, but there is no collective network to coordinate emergency responses on land and sea.

Four “Poverty Traps” Are Part of Conundrum for Foreign Aid
Jim Kolbe, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States

Muddled thinking is dangerous for international development. For one thing, cost benefit arguments neglect the high price exacted by failed states. For another, as noted in an important new book, The Bottom Billion, some countries are trapped by special circumstances that need special remedies.

Europe Is Losing Out in Global Competition Among Universities
Pascal Riché, news editor of Rue89, a French online news site

Richard Descoings, a reform-minded educator who heads the prestigious Sciences-Po, says in an interview that French universities are boxed into mediocrity by state control and state under-funding. Outside Britain, European universities need more control over their finances to compete in a globalized market.

Washington: City and Symbol – or Neither?
Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C. By Scott W. Berg
Reviewed by Kenneth Ringle

The blueprint for the U.S. capital called for a unique cityscape reflecting the states of the nation. It was a baroque design, studded with monuments. But the original vision is hard to see under accumulated layers of bad urbanization, exploitive development and bombastic memorial-building.

Fugitive Serbian War Criminals and the West
Peace and Punishment: Secret Wars of Politics and International Justice By Florence Hartmann
Reviewed by François Clemenceau

The two main Serbian war criminals have been protected by the diplomatic goals of the main powers, which were courting Serbia. Europeans wanted to see Belgrade join the EU; Russia wanted to preserve a Slavic bloc; the U.S. deferred to Moscow. Justice lost out, according to this book, yet to be translated into English.

Politically Incorrect Tales of the EU Bureaucracy
Life of a European Mandarin
By Derk-Jan Eppink
Reviewed by Michael Mosettig

The European Commission functions like many governments: like cabinet ministers, commissions come and go with their ideas. But the civil servants stay, keeping control of the process. If it weren’t true, this amusing and edifying excursion might be a satire.

Writer Ryszard Kapuscinski: An Optimist in the Heart of Darkness
Tomasz Zalewski, Washington Bureau Chief, Polish Press Agency


Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski was an exception in gaining an international following for his writings – in translation, of course. He succeeded by writing directly about the people in oppressed, poor continents. His humanity stemmed partly from his origins in Soviet-era Poland.

Global highlights and local sidelights culled from the media (January-March 2008)