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Focus Point: Regional Security- Transatlantic Security/NATO
The end of the transatlantic alliance Europe has lost its way | UnHerd
By Wolfgang Munchau | 17.02.2025
There is no longer any doubt that Europe and America are parting ways. The death of the transatlantic relationship was foretold many times, but at the Munich Security Conference this weekend, it finally ended.
The great American-European divorce has played out in three areas — Ukraine, free speech, and trade.
Last week, Donald Trump blindsided the Europeans with his announcement of peace talks with Vladimir Putin. (He said he would do this during his election campaign, but Europe’s leaders were clearly not paying attention.) Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, told the Europeans on Saturday that they will not be included in high-level peace negotiations.
Europe’s leaders are aghast. Some of them, including Keir Starmer, were still peddling the idea of future Nato membership for Ukraine when Trump announced that Ukraine will not become a Nato member. Trump said that, from a Russian perspective, it was the prospect of Ukraine’s Nato membership that triggered the war — a version of events the Europeans profoundly disagree with. He has also concluded that Ukraine cannot possibly win the war (a point on which I agree). Read more…
Focus Point: Regional Security- European Defence
It’s is time for Europe to Do Unthinkable I FP
By Khore Mahbubani I 18.02.2025 I Subscription needed
Brussels has slavishly followed Washington for too long—and forgotten how to advance its own geopolitical interests.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And as my geopolitical gurus taught me, one must always think the unthinkable, as Europe must do now.
It’s too early to tell who the real winners and losers from the second Trump administration will be. Things could change. Yet, there’s no doubt that Europe’s geopolitical standing has diminished considerably.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to not even consult with or forewarn European leaders before speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin shows how irrelevant Europe has become, even when its geopolitical interests are at stake. The only way to restore Europe’s geopolitical standing is to consider three unthinkable options.
First, Europe should announce its willingness to quit NATO.
If Metternich or Talleyrand (or Charles de Gaulle) were alive today, they would recommend unthinkable option 2: Work out a new grand strategic bargain with Russia, with each side accommodating the other’s core interests.
And this leads to unthinkable option 3: Work out a new strategic compact with China. . Read more…
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Focus Point: Security and Defense Policy- Russia-Ukraine War
European leaders want a say in talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The US is brushing them off I AP News
By Raf Casert and Sylvie Corbet I 18.02.2025
European leaders insisted Monday they must have a say in international talks to end the war in Ukraine despite the clear message from both Washington and Moscow that there was no role for them as yet in negotiations that could shape the future of the continent.
Three hours of emergency talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris left leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, NATO and the European Union without a common view on possible peacekeeping troops after a U.S. diplomatic blitz on Ukraine last week threw a once-solid trans-Atlantic alliance into turmoil.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for U.S. backing while reaffirming he’s ready to consider sending British forces on the Ukrainian ground alongside others “if there is a lasting peace agreement.”
There was a rift though with some EU nations, like Poland, which have said they don’t want their military imprint on Ukraine soil. French President Emmanuel Macron was non-committal. Read more…
Focus Point: Security and Defense Policy- Russia-Ukraine War
Secretary Rubio’s Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov | The US Department of State
Office of Spokesperson | 18.02.2025
“President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its strength in the world to bring countries together. President Trump is the only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia to agree to that.” Read more…
Focus Point: Security and Defense Policy- Emerging Threats and Global Risks
China promises Latin America ‘trustworthy’ ties as Trump lays out demands I Reuters
By Joe Cash I 19.02.2025
China will always be Latin America’s “trustworthy” friend and partner
China will always be Latin America’s “trustworthy” friend and partner, its foreign minister told his Bolivian counterpart, as Beijing looks to improve its foothold in a region historically under the U.S. sphere of influence.
“Latin America is the home of the Latin American people, and is not any country’s ‘backyard,'” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a meeting at the United Nations on Tuesday, according to a statement from his ministry.
Trump has not held back on threatening to up-end trade ties with the region while China looks to cultivate deeper strategic partnerships with individual Latin American nations, offering the region an alternative pole of economic support.
He has also threatened Mexico and Colombia with punitive trade remedies if they did not take stronger action to curb illegal immigration into the U.S.
Mexico agreed to reinforce its northern border with 10,000 National Guard members to stem the flow of illegal migrants and drugs.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro backed down from a decision to turn away U.S. military planes carrying deported migrants, pulling it back from back from the brink of a trade war with its biggest export market. Read more…
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Focus Point: Security and Defense Policy- Russia-Ukraine War
NATO High-Readiness Forces on Ukraine’s Doorstep ‘Ready’ To Deploy I Newsweek
By Ellie Cook I 19.02.2025
NATO’s British-led, rapid-response force is “ready” to be deployed if needed, a senior commander has said, after U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signaled he was “ready and willing” to put British troops on the ground to enforce a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Starmer said in an opinion piece published in U.K. newspaper The Telegraph on Sunday that contributing a British force to help maintain a possible ceasefire agreement was not something he took “lightly.”
Sweden has indicated it would consider a similar move, although other European countries quickly ruled out contributing troops. Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the deployment of such peacekeeping forces in Ukraine would be “completely unacceptable.”Read more…
Focus Point: Security and Defense Policy- Emerging Threats and Global Risks
‘No sane country would stand for this’: Lawmakers launch effort to withdraw the US from UN I Fox News
By Diana Stancy I 20.02.2025
Republican lawmakers have launched an effort to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations, amid concern that the international humanitarian and human rights organization fails to promote American interests and align with President Donald Trump’s ”America First” agenda.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced legislation Thursday called the Disengaging Entirely From the United Nations Debacle Act of 2025, which would terminate U.S. membership in the U.N. and its affiliated bodies, and funding to those groups. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is co-sponsoring the measure in the upper chamber.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is poised to introduce the measure in the House Friday, claiming that the U.N. and its bodies don’t advance the interests of Americans. Read more…
Focus Point: Security and Defense Policy- Russia-Ukraine War
Trump’s Europe Policy: No Longer Different From Russia And China? I EGMONT
By Sven Biscop I 20.02.2025
We are in the realm of Grand Strategy. The essence of Grand Strategy is simple – we abandon Ukraine or we stand by it – but it is never easy.
Refusing to decide is even more risky.
Now is the time for Europeans to take momentous decisions. The responsibility may seem overwhelming; but refusing to decide is even more risky.
The US & Europe are allies, or that is what the Europeans still wish to believe. For US, the European allies deserve no special consideration. Everything is subject to the interests the US. Europe, in concertation with Ukraine, can create faits accomplis too and shape the negotiations, even if it does not sit at the table. Trump cannot negotiate away European sanctions against Russia
A European coalition can decide now that it will deploy an army corps in Ukraine to guarantee its security, whether Russia likes it or not
The European allies must now themselves acquire those capabilities that until now only the US contributed to NATO. The aim is a complete conventional force package
Whatever the US says today: if a European coalition guarantees the security of Ukraine, NATO will be involved because those Europeans will be NATO allies
If a European coalition guarantees the security of Ukraine, major Chinese interests are at stake. Europe must make it clear to China that it is serious and will assume the risk of war to defend Ukraine. Read more…
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Focus Point: Regional Security- Transatlantic Security/NATO
NATO Is Dead’ Might Be an Overstatement, but Markets Are Behaving as If It Were True I The New York
By James Brooke I 20.02.2025 I Subscription needed
Akin to the Covid-19 crisis of the early 2020s or the financial meltdown of 2008, Europe confronts a historic turning point this week with President Trump’s break with Ukraine and reconciliation with Russia. Now, Ukraine is pivoting to Europe, and Europe is racing to defend itself with its own resources.
“Russia poses an existential threat to Europeans,” President Macron warned his nation through an interview published Tuesday in French regional newspapers. “Do not think that the unthinkable cannot happen, including the worst.”
The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, told broadcaster RTL: “Russia has decided to make enemies of us, and we must open our eyes, realize the scale of the threat, and protect ourselves.” He added: “If we do nothing, if we remain blind to the threat, the front line will move ever closer to our borders.”
In a first step, the French president yesterday held a Zoom and live conference with the leaders of 17 European countries, plus Britain and Canada. Excluded were Hungary and Slovakia, two countries seen as pro-Russian.
Following a similar in-person meeting in Paris on Tuesday with the leaders of Europe’s eight largest nations, discussions revolved around plans to increase spending on European defense and news reports that the Trump Administration may cut American troop levels in Europe.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden said later: “We need to keep a cool head, and continue to support Ukraine.”
European leaders are drawing up plans for a multi-billion euro military aid program for Ukraine. Details for the package, expected to be over $10 billion, are to be released next week, after Germany’s Bundestag elections this Sunday. Read more…
Focus Point: Regional Security- Transatlantic Security
Trump Fires Top Pentagon Officers in Sweeping Overhaul | WSJ
By Nancy A. Youssef | 22.02.2025 | Subscription needed
Chairman of Joint Chiefs and top Navy admiral are among those ousted. The Trump administration fired the military’s highest-ranking officer, the admiral leading the Navy, and several other senior Pentagon leaders in a massive shake-up of the top ranks of the armed forces.
The firings began with an announcement by President Trump on Friday that he had removed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and was nominating a retired three-star general to succeed him.
Shortly after Trump’s Truth Social post, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he was ousting Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the Navy and to be on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. James Slife, the vice chief of staff for the Air Force.
Hegseth also said he was planning to replace the top uniformed lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The firings were an unprecedented move to replace top uniformed officers in several branches of the armed services by an administration that has accused the Pentagon of failing to focus on its core war-fighting mission.
The result was to remove the military’s highest ranking Black officer in Brown and top woman commander in Franchetti. Trump appointees have said diversity policies by the Biden administration had resulted in promoting unqualified officers. Read more…
Thank you very much for reading.
The NAVI Research Institute is the research division of NATO Veterans Initiative - NAVI that provides a unique perspective to transatlantic leaders and societies on peace and security through the lens of NATO's founding principles of rule of law, democracy, human rights, and individual liberties. The NAVI Research Institute was officially established by the NAVI Board on July 16th, 2023.
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