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Nawaz Offers Views on Changing Pakistani Perceptions of U.S.
Shuja Nawaz, Director of the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, was interviewed on The Takeaway morning radio news program on the Pakistan flood situation. The discussion focused on the U.S. being the single largest donor of aid, and the potential for Pakistanis to shift their perceptions of America. Nawaz insists that the U.S. should stay the course with aid to Pakistan, but warns of the long-term effects of America's goodwill, stating that "changing image takes a long time."
Nancy Walker Addresses U.S. Africa Command Conference
Dr. Nancy J. Walker, Director of the Ansari Africa Center, gave the keynote address at Africa Command’s Senior Leader Offsite Conference in Starnberg, Germany on August 26, 2010.
South Asia Center's Shikha Bhatnagar Spotlighted
Shikha Bhatnagar's recent appointment as Associate Director of the South Asia Center of the Atlantic Council, is yet another manifestation of a growing trend of second generation Indian Americans' advent into leading Washington, DC think tanks as senior policy analysts and associates.
Chuck Hagel Discusses START Ratification on RussiaToday
Atlantic Council Chairman Chuck Hagel was interviewed for RussiaToday on delays in ratification of the START treaty in both the U.S. and Russia.
FEATURED ISSUE
In August the sunny calm and quiet that is a Swedish summer will be shattered by the impact of Joint Direct Attack Munitions dropped by F-16CM Fighting Falcons from US Air Force Europe.
Juncker Enters the EU Presidency Fray
Benjamin Preisler | October 29, 2009
With Jean-Claude Juncker, a powerful European voice has stepped forward in an attempt to prevent Tony Blair's candidacy for the EU Presidency from gaining steam. Belying his nominal low-influence as the prime minister of one of the smallest European Union member states, Juncker has established himself as a vocal and visible proponent of an ever closer Union. In Le Monde, he opposes Blair's candidacy due to the United Kingdom's lack of credibility as a driving force in European integration.
Ironically, The Telegraph opposes Blair for different reasons, believing that "a Blair presidency would be bad news for Britain" since his election would enlarge and aggrandise the EU Presidency leading to the loss of ever more sovereignty to Europe. The newspaper "rejoice[s] in the small-mindedness of Europe's leaders," who will nominate "some harmless, plodding nonentity like Belgium's prime minister, Herman van Rompuy."
Le Quotidien, a Luxembourg newspaper, quotes anonymous foreign policy circles as believing that Juncker's window of opportunity was wide open in 2004, but has closed since. They cite Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister, and Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian Prime Minister, as serious competitors.
Il Sore 24 Ore argues that the candidacies of Blair and Juncker will cancel each other out. "While for many Blair is not pro-European enough, Juncker is regarded as too European, so now the search is on for a third man. The names that are currently doing the rounds don't exactly have us on the edge of our seats: Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, former Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen or former Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel." Felipe González, the former Spanish Prime Minister, and François Fillon, the current French Prime Minister, have also been named
With European leaders having to choose from a wide selection of candidates, and the question officially not even on the agenda of the European Council before final ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, the winner in the race to become the first EU President is far from certain. Le Monde cites a French diplomat as saying that, "a lot will depend on the Swedish presidency's presentation of the topic. If they were to ask: 'Who is opposed to Tony Blair?' It is questionable how many would speak up."
Benjamin Preisler is an intern with the New Atlanticist. He recently earned his M.A. in North American Studies and Political Science from the Free University Berlin. Translations from non-English language sources are his own. Photo credit: .
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