Atlantic Council

From Paul Ames, Global Post:  The Boolea attack is fiction, the center-piece of operation Locked Shields, a "live fire" cyber exercise run by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in late April, to test the rapid response capabilities of allied cyber units.

From Wall Street Journal:  Britain plans to mothball its single aircraft carrier and shrink its standing army to a size last seen by Napoleon. France is cutting its rapid deployment forces almost in half.

From Judy Dempsey, Strategic Europe: [A] botched and expensive project to produce a drone system for the Bundeswehr could be [Defense Minister Thomas] de Maizière’s undoing.

From American Forces Press Service: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel hosted the Netherlands’ Minister of Defense Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert at the Pentagon today, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

From Desmond Butler, AP:  Republicans are trying to block Obama administration overtures to Russia on missile defense, creating a potential obstacle to arms control talks.

From Alexander Kolyandr, Wall Street Journal:  Russia could postpone its ambitious military spending program as an economic slowdown forces the government to review its spending plans, the country's finance minister indicated Wednesday.

From Arshad Mohammed and Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Reuters:  Washington threatened on Wednesday to increase support for Syria's rebels if President Bashar al-Assad refuses to discuss a political end to a civil war that is spreading across borders.

From Colin Clark, Breaking Defense:  The private sector — and the government — must “exhaust” the use of traditional responses such as public shaming, criminal charges, diplomatic demarches, and sanctions “before we contemplate the dangerous possibility we might encourage vigilantism

From David E. Sanger, New York Times:  With President Obama preparing for a first meeting with China’s new president, a commission led by two former senior officials in his administration will recommend a series of steps that could significantly raise the cost to China of the theft of American industrial secrets.

From Anne Gearan, Washington Post:  Iran has sent soldiers to Syria to fight alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad