National Security Series

Transatlantic Security: Data Sharing and Privacy Protection

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:19:43 -0500

The Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Relations Program on Thursday, July 8 hosted a joint discussion with United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Vice President of the European Commission Viviane Reding.

Click here to read the full event transcript

Click here to read Vice President Reding's speech

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Secretary Napolitano recently concluded a trip to the Middle East in an effort to forge some consensus on international information sharing and privacy in global aviation security, and provided insight into these topics. Vice President Reding described new landmark EU proposals for an overarching data protection agreement with the United States. Atlantic Council President and CEO, Fred Kempe, provided welcoming remarks and moderate the discussion.

Data Sharing and Privacy Protection Workshops:

On July 9th the Atlantic Council gathered international experts to build on the analysis and commentary provided by Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano and European Commission Vice President, Viviane Reding the previous evening at the Atlantic Council. Issues and challenges discussed included U.S. – EU cooperation on aviation security and data sharing, specifically the appropriate role for Passenger Name Records (PNR) in enhancing aviation security, as well as how technological advancements have and will change transatlantic data protection practices. The workshop closed with an effort to determine a possible path for unifying U.S. – EU policies on balancing the needs for security, with demands for data protection and privacy.

Media Coverage:

EU Commission plans 'umbrella' data protection deal with US - The Register (U.K.)
EC pushes for umbrella data protection agreement with the US - ComputerWeekly.com
EU and US look to form data protection agreement - ITPro (U.K.)
Napolitano: US-EU data sharing is critical- FierceGovernmentIT

James Steinberg: Foreign Policy Priorities of the Obama Administration

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:05:00 -0500

On March 15, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg delivered remarks at the Atlantic Council, outlining the foreign policy approach the Obama administration has taken since taking office over a year ago. The Deputy Secretary outlined the legacy challenges it inherited, its affirmative agenda for creating its own foreign policy brand, and discussed the surprises the Obama administration has had to deal with in the conduct of diplomacy and national security policy. He then took questions from the audience on subjects such as the Middle East peace process, U.S.-China relations, and America’s relationship with Turkey.

This event was featured as part of the Council's National Security Series. The Series serves as a platform for leading figures from the Administration and Congress to shape the public debate on critical issues in national security; previous participants include General James L. Jones and Senator Richard Lugar.

Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg:

James Steinberg joined the Obama administration as Deputy Secretary of State in January 2009. He was the former director of Foreign Policy studies at Brookings and also a nonresident senior fellow while dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. From December 1996 to August 2000, Mr. Steinberg served as deputy national security advisor to President Bill Clinton. During that period he also served as the president's personal representative (“Sherpa”) to the 1998 and 1999 G-8 summits.

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Media Coverage:

US Says Discussions on Wide Range of Issues With N. Korea Possible - Arirang
Erdoğan’s visit to US in limbo over ‘genocide’ tensions - Today's Zaman
US Has Deep Respect for Turkish PM, Says James Steinberg - Tert.am
James B. Steinberg: Turkish move to recall envoy 'regrettable' - Public Radio of Armenia
Turkish move to recall envoy 'regrettable,' US official says - Hurriyet Daily News

National Security Series:

The National Security Series is generously sponsored by BAE Systems.

Lugar: Energy Cutoff Equivalent to Armed Invasion

James Joyner — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:51:17 -0500

Senator Richard Lugar argues that NATO's next strategic concept must consider "unconventional threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking, cyber warfare, and energy manipulation" as "attacks" meriting Alliance response under Article V.

He argues, not unreasonably, that "that there was little distinction between an energy cutoff and an armed invasion. A shutdown of natural gas supplies to a nation in the middle of winter could cause death and economic calamity on the same scale as a military attack." Beyond that, he contends, "Merging energy support into NATO’s core mission would also strengthen Alliance cohesion and reinforce public support for the alliance. The challenge of securing stable, affordable energy supplies is one that looms at the top of every ally’s agenda, cutting across the fields of transportation, industrial, environmental, and national security policy."

Lugar has been in high political office since 1968, so he's by no means blind to the realities. He acknowledges that, at this point, the proposal is unlikely to "be immediately embraced by many Alliance leaders" but believes it will "stimulate more thought about how NATO and other European institutions could achieve collective solutions to energy insecurity." That's a noble and important goal, indeed.

Still, it may be a non-starter as more than a launching point for discussion. Indeed, Lugar himself noted that "This challenge is magnified by the fact that most of our domestic constituencies no longer perceive our security and way of life to be under imminent threat."

Even under the narrow confines of military attack, many of the Allies have lost faith in Article V's deterrence value. The Russian invasion of Georgia — mere months after being promised certain membership in the Alliance at Bucharest — was an eye-opener, with many key NATO leaders suddenly realizing the implications of admitting states to a military alliance they were not prepared to go to war over. The conflict in Afghanistan, the first actual invocation of the "an attack on one is an attack on all" measure in NATO's history, has long since losing support in most of the 27 capitols of the Alliance.

Given that context, it's difficult to imagine that the UK or France — much less the United States and Canada — would be willing to risk war with Russia over cyber attacks in Estonia or disputes over gas prices that got ugly.

Still, the discussion itself is vital as NATO undertakes the review for its new Strategic Concept. Article V was written in a time when Soviet tanks coming across the Fulda Gap was considered the main conventional threat. What exactly does it mean in the present day? Would, for example, an invasion into a breakaway republic, as happened last August, trigger an automatic military response? Or just a discussion about possible options?

While most proponents of deterrence theory argue that some ambiguity is useful — both for creating doubt in one's adversary and not giving tacit permission to do everything on the other side of a "bright line" — members of a security alliance should have some idea of what guarantees their participation confers. And those expectations must be factored into both resourcing and membership expansion decisions.

James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council. Atlantic Council photo by Christine Mahler.

Lugar Wants 'Boots on the Ground' in Eastern Europe

James Joyner — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:06:06 -0500

Senator Richard Lugar, speaking at the Atlantic Council, made a passionate plea for a stronger NATO commitment to East and Central Europe, including "boots on the ground."

The Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee lamented President Obama's decision to the abandon Poland and Czech missile defense system in favor of a sea based alternative. While conceding the possibility that the new approach was more technically sound, the old one was seen in the region as "a reaffirmation of the U.S. commitment" in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Georgia and the sense that NATO's Article V might be weaker than advertised. Consequentally, "The risk is that whatever strategic benefit the Alliance might realize from the new version of missile defense will be outweighed by the intra-Alliance costs to cohesion of this decision."

To assuage the fears that this has changed, Lugar suggested that there be NATO "boots on the ground" throughout the region along the lines of the Patriot missile batteries that the United States will have in Poland. Along those lines, "A re-invigoration of military exercises in Eastern Europe and joint planning for Eastern European contingencies would be a first step."

More fundamentally, Lugar argued that it's vital that the Alliance "hold out the prospect of membership to qualified aspirant countries, including Ukraine, Georgia, and the entire Balkan region." He asserted that, "We must not repeat the folly of the early days of the Cold War, when the appearance of a rigid U.S.-drawn defense perimeter in the Far East invited the perception that we would abide any geopolitical upheaval behind that line."

Asked in the Q&A session by Ambassador Richard Burt about Russian pressures on Ukraine leading up to this fall's elections, Lugar stated that it was "an ominous potential crisis" and that it was vital was to start paying attention now rather than to wait until for disaster to strike.

These are bold statements from a man of Lugar's prestige and stature. I remain skeptical that there is political will in the United States to make this level of commitment to the emerging states of Eastern Europe, especially at the risk of setting back relations with Russia. And I'm beyond skeptical that there exists consensus among NATO's 28 states to do much beyond issuing proclamations.

James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council. Atlantic Council photo by Christine Mahler.

Senator Richard Lugar: Congressional Perspective on the Future of NATO

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:30:00 -0500

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke for the Atlantic Council to provide a Congressional perspective on how a new Strategic Concept for NATO can best ensure the continued relevance of the Alliance. He also addressed NATO's role in Afghanistan and the future of the transatlantic security relationship.

Senator Chuck Hagel, Chairman of the Atlantic Council, introduced Senator Lugar, and Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe moderated the event. Lugar's speech will precede the first major U.S. address from NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the Atlantic Council from 5:00 to 6:00 PM on September 28 also. Rasmussen will discuss the future of the Afghanistan mission.

Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana is the senior Republican in the U.S. Senate and serves as the Republican leader of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Podcast (MP3):

Video:

Senator Lugar on the State of the NATO Alliance – C-SPAN

Transcripts:

Media Coverage:

Lugar faults Obama over missile defense: Sees 'abruptness' in decision – Washington Times, Jon Ward
WIRE WATCH: Much Ado about Afghanistan, Zoellick on World Bank, Heritage on Homeland Security – Washington Wire, WSJ Blogs, Susan Davis

New Atlanticist Analysis:

Related Publications:

The National Security Series and the NATO Forum are generously supported by BAE Systems.

National Security Advisor Jones: USA Safer Under Obama

James Joyner — Thu, 28 May 2009 06:41:57 -0500

In recent weeks, former Vice President Dick Cheney has repeatedly proclaimed that changes in U.S. national security policy ordered by President Obama have made the country less safe. In a speech at the Atlantic Council that was his first domestic address, Obama's national security advisor, General Jim Jones, said the opposite is true : "I firmly believe that the United States is not only safe, but will be more secure, and the American people are increasingly safer because of the president's leadership that he has displayed consistently over the last four months both at home and abroad."

Cheney has excoriated the administration for ending military tribunals, ordering Guantanimo closed, and abandoning enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding: "I think those programs were absolutely essential to the success we enjoyed of being able to collect the intelligence that let us defeat all further attempts to launch attacks against the United States since 9/11. . . . President Obama campaigned against it all across the country. And now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack."

Jones, however, insisted, "The United States is safer because we have rejected the false choice between safety and our ideals." More boldly, he declared, "Guantanamo probably created more terrorists than it ever housed."

In the question and answer session that followed Jones' formal remarks, Atlantic Council president and CEO Fred Kempe asked whether this is a "healthy" debate. Jones declared that it was. While humorously allowing that "no administration would ever say they are making us less safe," he argued that "it is important to raise the question." Indeed, it is the most fundamental question any administration must ask itself every day. That said, he got beyond the talking points and admitted, "I think that the former vice president knows full well that perfection is an impossible standard" but that his administration — as with any administration — works tirelessly to "keep threats at bay and as far away from our shores as possible."

It was once said that politics stops at the water's edge. If that was ever truly the case, the custom has largely been observed in the breach over the past twenty or so years. While it's absolutely necessary to debate how a given policy decision affects the security of the United States and its citizens, the current framing has been unhelpful.

Cheney sees himself and his former administration under assault with the overturning of some of its more controversial policies and is fighting back. If incarceration of prisoners without trial and Guantanamo and waterboarding the most dangerous of them for information didn't make the country safe, then how could they be justified?

Given the nature of presidential campaigns, which encourage exaggerating the differences between candidates and parties with inflammatory rhetoric, the appearance of a radical change of direction and a sharp repudiation of the previous administration is stark. Further, Obama has continued the rhetoric in order to change the optics. This, despite the fact that the changes are mostly cosmetic. Waterboarding and most other "enhanced interrogation techniques" had long since been abandoned, the "closing" of Gitmo is more talk than reality, and the creation of a system of due process for those incarcerated had been ordered by the courts and was underway.

Dick Cheney and the Bush administration did their very best to keep the nation safe. Inevitably, they made some mistakes and some controversial decisions. It is only natural that new leadership — especially one of a different party — was going to reevaluate some of those policies and make changes. Team Obama will make mistakes, too; perhaps they already have. But they're making these judgments in an honest belief that they're in the best national security interests of the country.

James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council.

General James Jones: First U.S. Speech as National Security Advisor

Wed, 27 May 2009 19:00:00 -0500

General James L. Jones (USMC, Ret.) delivered his first speech in the United States as National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama for the Atlantic Council. Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor and chairman of the Atlantic Council's International Advisory Board, introduced General Jones, and Frederick Kempe, president and CEO of the Atlantic Council, moderated the Q&A session.

In his first major address in the United States, entitled “U.S. National Security: The Obama Approach," General Jones discussed the Obama administration’s approach to global challenges and provided the administration’s perspective on how it intends to build on its early initiatives in the months to come. President Obama has begun to define a new direction for U.S. foreign and national security policy. With key early decisions and visits to Canada, Europe, Iraq and Latin America, the President and his administration have unveiled important policy changes on a number of issues ranging from responding to the global financial crisis to outlining a new strategy for combating extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

General Jones’ remarks were the first in a new National Security Series, a lecture series featuring leading policy makers and thinkers on security, defense and foreign policy issues hosted by the Atlantic Council’s International Security Program. General Jones is the immediate former chairman of the Atlantic Council.

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C-SPAN

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Related Press Release:

Atlantic Council Chairman General James L. Jones Named National Security Advisor

The National Security Series is generously sponsored by BAE Systems.

National Security Series

Transatlantic Security: Data Sharing and Privacy Protection

Click here to read the full event transcript

Click here to read Vice President Reding's speech

Podcast (MP3):

Data Sharing and Privacy Protection Workshops:

Media Coverage:

James Steinberg: Foreign Policy Priorities of the Obama Administration

Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg:

Read Transcript

Podcast (MP3):

Media Coverage:

National Security Series:

Lugar: Energy Cutoff Equivalent to Armed Invasion

Lugar Wants 'Boots on the Ground' in Eastern Europe

Senator Richard Lugar: Congressional Perspective on the Future of NATO

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Video:

Transcripts:

Media Coverage:

New Atlanticist Analysis:

Related Publications:

National Security Advisor Jones: USA Safer Under Obama

General James Jones: First U.S. Speech as National Security Advisor

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