From Philip Stephens, the Financial Times:  What is true is that, as Washington’s will is increasingly contested, the US-led international system established after 1945 is cracking.

From Heather Conley, the Washington Post:  In April, President Obama signed a new command plan that gives NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command greater responsibility in protecting the North Pole and U.S. Arctic territory.

On December 9, the Atlantic Council’s International Security Program hosted an off-the-record strategy session with Svetlin Yovchev, national security advisor to Boyko Borisov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria. He was previously head of Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security and earlier he worked in the former National Security Service.

From Benjamin Weinthal, the New Republic:  As the world witnesses the Syrian and Iranian regimes commit countless human rights abuses and, in Iran’s case, move ever closer to perfecting its nuclear capabilities, there’s a common belief that, short of military intervention, there’s nothing that can be done. As it turns out, however, that’s far from the truth

From Miriam Elder, the Guardian:  Ukraine shut the book on its flirtation with democracy and European integration on Tuesday when it sentenced former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in prison in a trial widely seen as a political witch-hunt.

From Jakub Kulhanek, the New Atlanticist:  The looming withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan slated for 2014 poses for Moscow a serious geopolitical predicament.

From the AP:  Russia's envoy to NATO alleged Friday that the alliance's war effort in Libya marks a major strategic shift to focusing on securing oil and gas supplies for the West.

From Chris Buckley, Reuters:  China's top official newspaper warned Western powers to let the United Nations lead post-war reconstruction in Libya, saying on Thursday that Beijing would seek to defend its economic stake after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.