Report
19 February 2010
This week has seen a wave of successes for the Obama administration and our allies against extremists abroad. The capture of senior Taliban leadership this week has demonstrated that Obama administration is taking the fight to the extremists, with concrete results. Despite these successes conservatives see terrorism and national security as a political opportunity not a strategy to keep America safe.
Report
23 April 2009
This crisis is critical to the security of the United States. Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons, has served as safe haven for al Qaeda and other international terrorist groups, has frequently gone to war with India, and holds some of the keys to U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. Yet despite Pakistan’s critical importance, we are only now emerging from eight years without a comprehensive Pakistan strategy.
Report
25 February 2009
The Pakistani state is under threat not just from a growing insurgency,
but from tremendous political and economic instability as well. The
democratic government remains weak and the Pakistani economy teeters on
the brink of default. To help stabilize Pakistan, the Atlantic Council
recommends working to strengthen Pakistani democracy, engaging the
region, conditioning security assistance, and increasing development
assistance.
Report
18 February 2009
As the Obama Administration begins a 60-day review of its Afghanistan strategy, a diverse group of progressive experts in development, counter-terrorism, regional politics and US politics came together to advise NSN on a set of principles that might guide both the Administration in building a new strategy and advocates in Congress, the media and the public in judging a proposed strategy.
Report
12 February 2009
As President Obama met with Secretary Gates to discuss the possibility of troop increases in Afghanistan, events underscored the terrible hand that the Bush administration dealt the new President. Rather than focus on Afghanistan, where the 9-11 attacks were plotted and where their planners took refuge, President Bush became distracted by Iraq. The resulting downward spiral is now the problem of the Obama Administration.
Report
12 December 2008
Despite attempts by the Bush administration to tout its legacy, it is very clear that President Bush is bequeathing his successor eight years of incompetence and failed policies that have left America significantly weaker.
Press Release
Washington, D.C. 12 December 2008
Report
2 October 2008
This week General McKiernan, the top commander in Afghanistan, and General David Petraeus made an obvious point: “Afghanistan is not Iraq.” Both insisted that the challenges in Afghanistan are very different than the ones in Iraq and therefore require a very different strategy and approach.
Report
17 September 2008
After toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Bush administration shifted its focus to Iraq – a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 – instead of finishing the job. Today, we are still paying for this terrible strategic mistake. In Afghanistan, the situation continues to deteriorate as the American commander asks for 15,000 additional troops on top of the increases already planned for later this year.
Report
9 September 2008
The President’s announcement today that the U.S. will begin a modest redeployment of American forces from Iraq to Afghanistan – a recommendation progressives have been advocating for years – is a welcome shift. But the redeployment is so modest and will take so long to arrive that, effectively, the President remains fixated on Iraq - regardless of the larger implications for U.S. national security.
