atlantiker.de

Florian Broschk: The Western effort to conquer "hearts and minds" in Afghanistan is being hindered by a failure to recognize the core role of religion in Afghan society. The West must integrate the language of Islamic morality into its counterinsurgency mission.

Thomas Speckmann: Nicolas Sarkozy governs according to his own agenda, to the disadvantage of Europe. His political style is similar to the unilateral approach of President Bush, condemned by so many Europeans. France cannot continue to give its longstanding ally, Germany, the cold shoulder. Sarkozy must cease his go-it-alone policies and become "Sarkozy l’Européen."

Wall Street Journal:

As if Things Weren’t Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.

Mr. Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces — with Alaska reverting to Russian control.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html

In an apparent attempt to prove that the worst foreign policy ideas are bipartisan, Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute, has renewed the call for a 'global NATO'. The idea bascially comes down to having all the liberal democracies in the world join NATO, and the purpose is to enable NATO to engage in more wars of intervention. This is written in a 'memo to the next president':

You should seize the opportunity to lead NATO's transformation from a North American-European pact into a global alliance of free nations. By opening its doors to Japan, Australia, India, Chile, and a handful of other stable democracies, NATO would augment both its human and financial resources. What is more, NATO would enhance its political legitimacy to operate on a global stage.

There isn't much difference between this and Bob Kagan's 'League of Democracies' except that Will Marshall still pays lip service to working with the UN. The objective, however, is clearly to be able to bypass the Security Council. The 'global NATO' idea has been around for longer. It was proposed by Ivo Daalder and James Goldgeier in a 2006 Foreign Affairs article. It has also been discussed at a NATO forum, where current SecGen Jaap de Hoop Scheffer quickly dismissed it and offered some lucid thinking on the current development of the alliance.

Aside of the concern that expanding the alliance will trigger a reaction and the reality that neither Europe nor most of the designated candidates have any kind of appetite for the idea, the rationale of increasing foreign interventions shows that a lot of liberal hawks have really learned nothing at all. But it is not clear what kind of influence they have.

The PPI is the think tank of the Democratic Leadership Council, which also has Hillary Clinton, the next US Secretary of State, as a prominent member. This is mere association, but it will be worthwhile to keep a tab on whether the ideas (and careers) of liberal hawks at the DLC and the Brookings Institution gain traction in the State Department.

(via Yglesias)

Im Vorstand der „Atlantik-Brücke“ befindet sich des Weiteren eine illustre Auswahl des deutschen Kapitaladels: Unter anderen Springers Meinungsfabrikant Kai Diekmann, Deutsch Bankier Jürgen Fitschen, RWE-Vorstandsvorsitzender und ...

Zudem gehört Schmidt der Atlantik-Brücke eV an, die den Versuch unternehmt, „von privater Seite in den politischen Raum hineinzuwirken, sympathiebildend, kontaktvermittelnd, katalysatorisch“. Ehrenvorsitzender der atlantischen ...

Richard N. Rosencrance & Ehud Eiran: A Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement stands little chance, given current political realities. In the form of EU membership, Europe holds the key to the transformation and resolution of the millennia-long rivalry - both a win-win for Israel and Palestine and a boon to Europe. In the name of peace, Israelis and Palestinians should become European.

25. Dezember 2008 um 21:54. Bzgl. Helmut Schmidt: Im Internet taucht sein Name auch in Verbindung mit den “Geheim”-buenden Atlantik-Bruecke, Bilderberger, Bohemian Grove,… auf. Mit wem war er wirklich verbandelt? Wie unabhaengig war er? ...

Van Jones: It’s time to bailout the American people, the planet and the economy. We need to create millions of new jobs that can’t be outsourced, wean the country off its dependence on foreign oil, take bold steps to address the climate crisis and make America an innovation leader again.

NATO Channel: Afghanistan’s symbolic Highway 1 is coming under increased attacks from insurgents placing explosives in bridges and culverts. These attempts to disrupt this important route for both commerce and the movement of people can only be countered through coordinated efforts from ISAF and the Afghan people.