Category: NATO

How NATO Can Reach Tomorrow’s Leaders Today

The following article appeared on the website of the Atlantic Council in October 2015.

A few months ago, I confronted NATO’s greatest threat. It wasn’t a line of Russian tanks or insidious cyber-code. It was a group of students at my high school alma mater, Deerfield Academy.

I paid a visit to the campus in May, and my gracious host, Director of Global Studies David Miller, invited me to a student meal. Intros went around. But before we tucked into our turkey, I had a question. Who is the NATO Secretary General?

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Are Europeans and Americans Drifting Apart?

The following article appeared in The Huffington Post in 2014.

Broader surveillance was supposed to be about catching terrorists, not about eavesdropping on a German leader who’s been one of America’s best friends.

Revelations that the National Security Agency tapped German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s private mobile phone have made a big impression here in Brussels and across Europe. They have given concrete form to a long-held European suspicion: that sometimes when America talks about protecting the West from terrorism, it really means conducting surveillance for its own economic and political advantage. It turns out that it’s not about your security, this example seems to say; it’s about our prosperity.

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What’s Wrong with Russia?

The following article appeared in The Huffington Post in May 2014.

Nothing, according to a realist view of international relations. Russia is acting like a traditional predatory nation-state. It’s trying to increase its wealth, expand its influence and maximize its power.

The problem is that we seem surprised.

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Despite Its Flaws, I Still Believe in NATO

The following blog was originally published in The Huffington Post in the spring of 2015.

Many people are deeply skeptical of NATO, and it’s not hard to understand why.

It’s not the kind of place that inspires awe. The antiquated Headquarters in Belgium resemble less a political-military nerve center than a high-end trailer park. A British observer is said to have called it a ‘Soviet discotheque’. A hideous sculpture in front has long been compared to the Death Star. Indeed, the overall impression is not that it’s a redoubt for the Rebel Alliance, but a lair for Darth Maul.

But this isn’t just a problem of perception.

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