NATO

NATO in the South Caucasus: Present for Duty or Missing in Action?

The recent NATO Heads of State and Government Meeting in Brussels highlighted NATO’s declining relevance in the South Caucasus and the declining relevance of the region to NATO. The reasons for this lie both within NATO and within the...

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Assessing Baltic Sea Regional Maritime Security

Russia’s increasingly assertive behavior in Europe has raised concerns about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) readiness for its principal mission of ensuring the security of its member states. The invasion of Ukraine in 2014 has gathered the most...

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Making NATO Less “Obsolete”

The German Chancellor, Mrs. Angela Merkel, is coming to Washington this week to visit the White House and gain a better understanding of U.S. foreign policy under the new administration. President Donald Trump had startled our alliance partners in...

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Transatlantic Security Discourse: Lost in Translation?

As the world anxiously watches President Donald Trump in action, concerns over the implications of his foreign policy choices are felt ever as keenly in the Baltic states. From cheers over Trump’s greetings to Lithuania on its day of...

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Trump, Europe, and the Quest to Save NATO

War on the Rocks From the campaign trail to the Oval Office, Donald Trump has consistently proposed a kind of portfolio reassessment of America’s alliance system overseas. His initial meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May went well. But...

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Bulgaria’s Presidential Election: Uncertainty Looms

Bulgaria is a parliamentary representative republic, in which the president, elected by Bulgarian citizens, serves as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President of Bulgaria is also responsible for determining and implementing the country’s...

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What Does Russia Want From President Trump?

As the Trump administration begins to formulate its policies, it is clear that both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin want to improve ties between Moscow and Washington. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev correctly described U.S.-Russia relations as having hit...

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Baltic States and Cyber Deterrence: Taking or Losing Initiative against Russia?

In 2017, a skillful combination of military aggression, attacks on information and communications systems, widespread disinformation, and psychological pressure has established itself as the winning formula in modern hybrid conflicts. This winning strategy has made cyber security—once a marginal...

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Tillerson the Realist

Last week, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, underwent Senate confirmation hearings. Venues like The Washington Post were predictably critical, especially on the issue of human rights. But the critics seem to...

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Rethinking Geopolitics; Rebuilding Alliances

Abstract Although the recent presidential campaign did not focus on foreign policy, the new President will confront major international challenges and be expected both to make difficult decisions about ongoing conflicts and chart a course for the future. This...

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