Press
Showing 81-100 of 135 Items
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Despite Acrimony Among Leaders, NATO Is Making Strides at 70
It was, perhaps, an unexpected way to mark NATO’s 70th anniversary. At a remarkably rancorous bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, U.S. Presiden...
By Jim Townsend
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NATO leaders gathering in London brace themselves for Trump 'fireworks'
In The News
NATO leaders gathering to mark the alliance's 70th anniversary in London face multiple challenges -- including the uncertainty of what President Donald Trump might do. Trump ...
By Jim Townsend
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US to Europe: Fix Open Skies Treaty or we quit
In The News
NATO allies worried U.S. President Donald Trump will abandon the Open Skies Treaty have been told the administration views the arms control agreement as a danger to U.S. natio...
By Jim Townsend
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In A Remote Arctic Outpost, Norway Keeps Watch On Russia's Military Buildup
In The News
There are precisely 525 stairs from the icy waters of the Barents Sea to the top of the observation post in the far northeast corner of Norway, along the Russian border. It's ...
By Jim Townsend
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U.S. Pushes Skeptical Allies to Step Up ISIS Fight in Syria
In The News
Less than two days after a U.S. special operations raid led to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, State and Defense Department officials are p...
By Jim Townsend
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Europe can’t fill the U.S. void in Syria
“I thought that the United States and Turkey were in NATO, and then I discovered by tweet that the U.S. had decided to withdraw its troops and pave the way [for Turkey to laun...
By Jim Townsend
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Here’s what you need to know about the US aid package to Ukraine that Trump delayed
In The News
At the center of the latest scandal threatening to take down President Donald Trump is $391 million in military aid that Trump reportedly asked his staff to freeze for two mon...
By Jim Townsend
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Trump Cuts “Muscle” from European Defense to Fund Border Wall
The list of military construction projects the Trump administration is defunding to pay for its controversial border wall includes more than $770 million from an initiative st...
By Jim Townsend
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Hollowed-Out Pentagon Begins to Staff Up
In The News
After more than seven months without a confirmed leader, the Pentagon is slowly but surely beginning to rebuild its senior ranks under new Defense Secretary Mark Esper, but pe...
By Jim Townsend
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US Space Force: The race to control the space above the sky
In The News
Most reporting on United States President Donald Trump's 2018 Space Force announcement was framed as another rant-filled word salad served up to military personnel attending t...
By Jim Townsend
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Trump’s Spat With Denmark Could Cost Him Against Iran
During Jim Townsend’s decades of work on European policy in the Pentagon and at NATO, he never saw the Danes say no to a fight. From the first Gulf War to counter-Islamic Stat...
By Jim Townsend
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Britain’s Power Play in the Persian Gulf
In The News
In calling this week for a European naval coalition to provide security for commercial ships in the vital Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom is seeking to both uphold the ne...
By Jim Townsend
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Who Lost Turkey?
In The News
On July 4, 2003, U.S. paratroopers kicked down doors and raided a compound in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah. It was two months after the United States declared “Miss...
By Jim Townsend
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Defense Department scrambles to fill top job as vacancies and acting appointees pile up
In The News
Reporting from Washington — Who is running the Pentagon? These days it can change with dizzying speed as the Trump administration struggles to find nominees for top civilian a...
By Jim Townsend
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Trump’s defense pick calls for US-led pact to deter Iran
In The News
US President Donald Trump’s pick to succeed Jim Mattis as the Pentagon’s permanent chief insisted Tuesday that passive patrols of the Gulf were deterring Iranian attacks on ta...
By Jim Townsend
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The US is silent as Turkey starts receiving a Russian missile system that could jeopardize the F-35 stealth fighter
In The News
As NATO ally Turkey receives its first shipment of the controversial Russian air defense system that has for months been driving a wedge between Ankara and Washington, the US ...
By Jim Townsend
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Turkey has the S-400. The Trump administration is silent.
In The News
After months of threatening quick, severe action against Turkey should Ankara accept the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, the Trump administration has yet to react to th...
By Jim Townsend
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NATO Considers Missile Defense Upgrade, Risking Further Tensions With Russia
NATO military officials are exploring whether to upgrade their defenses to make them capable of shooting down newly deployed Russian intermediate-range nuclear missiles after ...
By Jim Townsend
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Trump’s Latest Acting Pentagon Chief Faces Immediate Stress Test
In The News
It has been a taxing week for Mark T. Esper, the acting defense secretary, who did not have that title just a few days ago. Last Thursday, Mr. Esper, 55, was still Army secret...
By Jim Townsend
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Likely Pentagon Nominee Jumps Into Iran Crisis
In The News
Army Secretary Mark Esper won’t have much time to train up as President Donald Trump’s newest acting Pentagon chief. The U.S. Army veteran and defense industry lobbyist, who a...
By Jim Townsend
