nato

Kosovo always enjoyed a special relationship with the United States. After Trump’s election, however, a resurgent Russia (Serbia’s backer) and an intransigent United States puts the special relationship at-risk. [...] Kosovo must demonstrate its value to the Trump administration. Greater security cooperation would serve Trump’s “America First” agenda. It would also advance Kosovo’s interests.

Stockholm City Hall 03, by Stefan Lins

Russia's strategy toward Sweden blurs the line between public diplomacy and covert operations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have pledged further cooperation in the fight against terrorism during Merkel’s visit to Ankara, while the German leader also stressed the impartiality of her country’s courts regarding the extradition of Turkish coup attempt suspects. 

Back in November 2014, Michael Weiss and Peter Pomerantsev published an insightful report called “The Menace of Unreality: How the Kremlin Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money.” The main argument was that ‘truth’ no longer matters and the key objective is to deliberately distort the truth and sow confusion. The report earned immediate attention in Brussels—including in NATO circles. 

Background, by MIH83

How the "post-truth" trend of misinformation is affecting NATO, and how the organization can fight back.

The opening of the centre marks two important milestones, a milestone in the friendship between Nato and Kuwait, and a milestone in the blossoming partnership between Nato and the entire Gulf region, he said. “Nato’s Istanbul Cooperation Initiative — the ICI — was designed to contribute to long-term regional stability, so I am extremely pleased that our three other ICI partners are represented here today: Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates,” he said.

“A decent respect to the opinions of mankind,” intones the U.S. Declaration of Independence, requires that those who want to break away from a nation-state explain publicly their reasons for doing so. Today, however, following a dramatic week of events connected to the ascent of Donald Trump to the Presidency, a similar imperative requires that we try to explain to the world—and most of all to ourselves—what is going on. 

In order to tackle the problems that the EU is facing first and foremost, it should have to undertake crucial responsibilities and duties concerning the rational arrangement or the strengthening of relations with Russia. [...] Thus, the transition from competition to collaboration can give them benefits and gain them a “win-win” position in different kind of fields including energy, free trade and visa liberalization, economy, military, tourism, healthcare and education and related areas. 

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