The September 17 decision itself seemed to strike the right balance between the need to keep U.S. missile defense options open, and to adjust the program to evolving strategic realities and political priorities.The strategic side was left to U.S. Secretary of State Robert Gates to justify, on the ground that the Iranians’ long-range missile threat [...]

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  The numbers below are still approximate, because the final count may not be published until Monday. Nevertheless, the following is already clear:   The liberal Free Democrats (FDP) are the triumphant winners of the election €“ at 14.6-14.7 %, their best result since 1949 (but not as good as they’d hoped when they were [...]

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    It’s 5 pm in Germany, one hour before the polling stations close, and the first projections are published. Throughout the country, it’s been a day of radiant sun and blue skies €“ the kind of day that Germans prefer to spend hiking in the mountains, or grilling at a lake, rather than waiting [...]

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Besides resolving to clamp down on bankers’ bonuses, the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh produced two major results. The first was a pledge to expand emerging markets’ say and sway in the IMF by increasing their quota by five percentage points to 43 percent of the total. The U.S.-sponsored idea will go some ways to addressing [...]

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 Gosh, the German election this Sunday has become exciting after all. Three reasons: the race has become too close to call; it has become clear that the next Chancellor will have overwhelming problems to deal with; and Germany may be on the verge of a seismic shift in its political landscape. This blog will look [...]

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On Friday, September 15 the German Marshall Fund (GMF) hosted a debate on biofuels and indirect land use change (ILUC) between Tim Searchinger, transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund and Bruce Dale, professor at Michigan State University. The debate was moderated by Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post. To watch video of the event [...]

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On September 24   the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a U.S.-sponsored resolution aimed at slowing the spread of nuclear weapons and reducing global stockpiles. GMF’s John Glenn discusses what this decision means for future transatlantic relations and cooperation.

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ANKARA — In the shadow of the White House announcement that U.S. President Barack Obama would abandon the missile defense system planned for Eastern Europe in favor of a ship-based missile defense system, the Pentagon notified Congress of a possible $7.8 billion sale of Patriot PAC-3 antimissile batteries and related equipment to Turkey, the only [...]

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BRUSSELS — President Obama’s shelving of the Bush administration’s missile defense plans makes sense in addressing the immediate Iranian threat. It has nevertheless created a crisis of confidence in Central and Eastern Europe.   The crisis’ roots lie in policy mistakes made over the course of the past decade. One was assuming that the issue [...]

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BRATISLAVA — The decision of the Bush administration to place missile shield installations in the Czech Republic and Poland was met with reluctance and even opposition by many in Central and Eastern Europe from the outset. Even in the two countries’ policy communities it caused considerable turmoil, as advocates of the missile shield risked a [...]

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