Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi visited Turkey over the weekend and met with Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davuto?lu. On a very broad agenda—which included a formal retraction from Davuto?lu stating that he did, in fact, take seriously U.S. claims that Iran was involved in a plot to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington—was the issue of missile defense. As a NATO member and U.S. ally, Turkey has agreed to host an early warning radar as part of a joint U.S.–NATO missile defense system. However, Iran has repeatedly criticized Turkey’s …
A week ago, the Spanish government of Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero agreed to Spain’s participation in NATO’s European missile defense system by allowing four U.S. Navy Aegis guided-missile destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class to be stationed at the naval base of Rota, in southwestern Spain. These destroyers are armed with the Standard SM-3 surface-to-air missile (SAM) designed to intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. The U.S. Navy destroyers will be based in Rota beginning in 2013, along with 1,100 servicemen and 100 civilian employees. Together with …
President Barack Obama’s speech to the United Nations had more than a few elements of a domestic campaign stump speech. Indeed, after a few opening obligatory remarks about the history and ideals of the U.N., the President quickly launched into a detailed account of his record in office – ending the military operation in Iraq, transitioning more responsibility to Afghan authorities, and killing Osama bin Laden – clearly aimed at American voters. Even when the President moved on to highlight the accomplishments of the U.N. he did so in a …
Last week, the Obama Administration made a step toward implementation of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA), its four-phase ballistic missile defense plan for the protection of allies and friends in the European region. The Turkish foreign ministry announced its decision to host an X-band radar AN/TPY-2 in its territory. This is a welcome step in the development of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) ballistic missile defense capability, which became a core competency of the alliance in November. Data from the radar in Turkey will be integrated with U.S. …
Sixty years ago today, in San Francisco, the foreign ministers of Australia and New Zealand met with Dean Acheson, President Harry Truman’s Secretary of State, to sign a tripartite mutual defense treaty—the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty, or ANZUS, which solidified America’s longstanding friendship with its two Pacific partners into a formal alliance structure. At that time, Asia had exploded into a hotbed of Communist activity, insurgency, and all-out war, a mere six years after U.S., Australia, and New Zealand fought together to force Japan’s surrender in World …
Being a leader often means telling your friends uncomfortable truths. Amid the tentative optimism NATO is now feeling in Libya, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has again reminded the alliance’s European members that the mission has only been made possible by strong U.S. support. Equitable burden sharing within NATO has been a perennial concern for Secretary-General’s over the years. However, there now appears to be a tipping point. Americans—worried about their nation’s debt, deficits and unemployment—are growing weary of shouldering a disproportionate share of NATO’s budget. Rasmussen states that NATO’s European …
Russia’s military-industrial complex is offering an ominous weapons system in the international arms market called the Club-K cruise missile system. It consists of a quadruple launcher for Club cruise missiles hidden inside an innocuous-looking cargo container that serves as cover for the missiles’ Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) and the control cabin, where two operators would handle the satellite communications and the missiles’ targeting and launching. The Club missiles are known by NATO as the SS-N-27 “Sizzler.” Fittingly, the marketing name given to the system is “Pandora’s Box.” The container-looking weapon system can …
While Russia gives the illusion of looking for missile defense cooperation, it has waged a full-scale campaign against U.S. missile defenses. Dmitry Rogozin, special representative of the president of the Russian Federation for interaction with NATO in missile defense, recently stated that Moscow has been working to bring the issue of the European missile shield to a “broad open discussion.” Rogozin’s comments followed a meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Consider another statement by Rogozin: “It is obvious that the missile shield planned to be established on the …
The French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces recently released a report called “Ballistic Missile Defense: Military Shield or Strategic Challenge?” This report urges France to take a strong role in the NATO missile defense program and to develop a space-based (exoatmospheric) ballistic missile defense interceptor. This would be a great step in the right direction for NATO and the French defense industry—one the United States should learn from. Space-based interceptors present the best option for a boost-phase missile defense. In the boost phase, ballistic missiles …
Late on Tuesday, July 5, an Azerbaijani tanker plane crashed in Afghanistan en route to U.S./NATO Bagram Air Base with a load of fuel. The United States and NATO should mourn the nine crew members who were killed on board, yet this accident should serve as a reminder of the invaluable contributions and sacrifices that this small, predominately Muslim country has made for NATO and American forces when other coalition allies have been pulling out of Afghanistan. This supply plane flew from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, which is located in …
