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Ian Brzezinski Senate Testimony on NATO: Chicago and Beyond
Ian Brzezinski, Atlantic Council senior fellow with the International Security Program, testified before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the upcoming NATO Summit in Chica
David Koranyi Pens Op-Ed in Hurriyet Daily News
David Koranyi, deputy director of the Council's Patriciu Eurasia Center, published a commentary piece in the Hurriyet Daily News entitled "Nabucco and the embattled Hungarian Prime Minister."
MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Features Fred Kempe and Awards Dinner
Atlantic Council President and CEO Fred Kempe appeared on msnbc's Morning Joe to discuss the recent French and Greek elections and their wider impact on Europe. The Atlantic Council's 2012 Awards Dinner was also featured in a segment on Prince Harry and his charity dedicated to helping wounded warriors.
Gerard Prunier Writes New York Times Op-Ed on Sudan and South Sudan
In “In Sudan, Give War a Chance,” an op-ed published in Saturday’s New York Times, Gérard Prunier, a senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, discusses the likelihood of war between South Sudan and Sudan as well as the growing conflict within Sudan between the Arab Islamist center and its black Muslim periphery.
REGISTER
NATO and Russia Resume Formal Relations
James Joyner | April 29, 2009
NATO and Russia today resumed formal relations, which were broken off in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Georgia.
The talks were held within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council, a panel set up in 2002 to improve relations between the former Cold War foes.
"The meeting opened with a shared view that ... the time has come to take the next step," alliance spokesman James Appathurai said. "There was a shared desire to focus on areas which can be productive." Still, he said, differences remained over NATO's upcoming exercises in Georgia. Moscow bitterly opposes Georgia's desire to join NATO and sees next month's anti-terrorism and peacekeeping exercises as a step in that direction.
"The NATO-Russia Council is not a fair-weather body ... it doesn't mean we always agree on everything," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said before the meeting between ambassadors of the alliance's 28 nations and Russia's envoy to the organization. But he noted that on issues such as piracy and the war in Afghanistan, Russia and NATO had continued to cooperate closely despite the diplomatic hiatus.
While I suppose acknowledging ongoing talks is slightly preferable than pretending they're not going on is a step forward, it's a very small one. Russia is still ignoring international law with respect to Georgia, a fellow member of the Partnership for Peace and a state that has been repeatedly promised future membership in the Alliance. Russia is still railing about NATO carrying out an annual exercise because of Georgia's inclusion.
Then again, the reality is NATO has no stomach — and arguably no interest — to do anything about the Georgia situation. So it's likely best to get past that issue and work with Russia on matters of mutual concern.
James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council.
