All In:  The Education of General David Petraeus.  By Paula Broadwell with Vernon Loeb. The Penguin Press, 2012, 394pp. $29.99. Writing a first book is challenging in its own right, much less doing so as events unfold.  In All In, The Education of General David Petraeus, Paula Broadwell chose to add a third hurdle:  writing [...]

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BRUSSELS—Full details of the Obama administration’s new look in defense spending, force posture, and strategy are not yet out. But enough has been revealed  to venture some thoughts on the logic of the new approach and the longer-term implications for the United States and transatlantic partners. The shift to a “one war, spoil and manage” [...]

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BERLIN — When President Barack Obama unveiled a new national defense strategy last week, which confirmed the United States’ intent to play a sustained role in shaping a rising Asia, he noted that “the tide of war is receding.” This observation will have done little to reassure a skeptical Beijing that the strategy is aimed [...]

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PARIS—The Obama administration’s new defense strategy should come as no surprise to observers in France and across Europe. The question of rebalancing American military involvement between Europe and the Asia-Pacific has been a recurring theme of transatlantic relations and of U.S. policy debates since at least the 1950s. In large part, it reflects the historical [...]

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This past week, the Obama Administration announced its intention to nominate Rick Barton as the nation’s first ever Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations.  The announcement marks Washington’s latest run at creating a serious civilian “surge capacity” for managing instability and conflict in fragile states. Rick Barton, if the Senate chooses to [...]

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ISTANBUL— Even in an otherwise remarkable year for the broader Middle East, the most recent developments have underscored the degree to which the strategic realities of the region have changed. The death of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was the latest consequence of the tumultuous Arab Awakening. The United States’ announcement of a final withdrawal from [...]

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WASHINGTON — Last week in Baghdad, on his maiden overseas trip as U.S. Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta pressed Iraqi officials on whether they wanted American forces to remain in the country after 2011.  Until a few weeks ago, Iraq was largely out of the public spotlight and a low priority for most U.S. policymakers [...]

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WASHINGTON — Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a formal end to the American combat role in Iraq. Although a very substantial military presence of around 50,000 troops will remain for training and more limited counterterrorism operations, the shift in mission marks a turning point in the almost eight-year-long U.S. engagement. As America heads [...]

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President Barack Obama Wednesday fired his own chosen field commander for Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, and replaced him with McChrystal’s boss in the military chain of command, General David Petraeus.  Obama was right to fire McChrystal after the general and his staff made outrageous comments to a Rolling Stone reporter, with unfavorable characterizations of Vice [...]

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WASHINGTON — “Bush was right” is not a view frequently expressed in the New York Times.   But, there it was, in Thomas Friedman’s March 10 column:   “Former President George W. Bush’s gut instinct that this region craved and needed democracy was always right.” Friedman was referring to the elections that took place this [...]

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