North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Does Europe “Owe” the U.S. Billions in NATO Funding?
Does Europe “Owe” the U.S. Billions in NATO Funding?

Does Germany—or any other NATO member—“owe” NATO billions of dollars? Here’s what you should know about how NATO is funded.

Bearing the Burden

With the Middle East on fire, Europe on edge, Russia on the march, and China on the rise, America’s interlocking system of alliances is more important now than at any time since the beginning of the Cold War.

Chaos Theory: Trouble with Trump’s Foreign Policy
Chaos Theory: Trouble with Trump’s Foreign Policy

Trump appeared to revel in chaos on the campaign trail, but chaos theory does not hold when it comes to foreign policy. Consider some of the consequences—and these are the shortest of short-term consequences—of Trump’s early foreign policy decisions and pronouncements.

Hybrid Warfare: An Old Strategy with a New Name
Hybrid Warfare: An Old Strategy with a New Name

Following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, the West has become fascinated with the term “hybrid warfare.” While the term appears to be relatively new, hybrid warfare itself is not a new strategy, nor is it a threat to be taken lightly.

A Return to Fortress America?
A Return to Fortress America?

As history reminds us, the security payoffs of a “Fortress America” approach are ephemeral and fleeting. Both the national interest and international security suffer when America turns inward.

Central Eastern Europe Needs Engaged United States
Central and Eastern Europe Needs an Engaged United States

Many American officials have concluded that issues in Central and Eastern Europe have been fixed once and for all and that they can “check the box” and move on to other more pressing strategic issues. Relations have been so close that many on both sides assume that the region’s transatlantic orientation, as well as its stability and prosperity, would last forever. That view is premature.

Turkey Democratic Debt NATO
Turkey’s Democratic Debt to NATO

Turkey’s relationship to NATO is edging toward the brink of collapse: caught in a miasma of Islamic radicalism, power-grabbing, and naïve foreign policy.

NATO’s Gathering Storm

Under threat, Europe is at another crossroads. Whether NATO will help it find the right direction is an open question.

Clinton on Trump’s Foreign Policy: Right Message, Wrong Messenger
Clinton on Trump’s Foreign Policy: Right Message, Wrong Messenger

The power of the American presidency is like none other on earth. It is a certainty that Trump’s worst vices—his crudeness, his infantile attacks on critics, personal grudges, unchecked egotism—would be magnified the day he took office. Yes, try to imagine Trump with his finger on the nuclear button without trembling.