natoaktual.cz

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26.03. 2007
Face au bouclier antimissile américain, craintes et calculs de la Russie de Poutine
(By Fabrice Nodé-Langlois)
Les velléités américaines d'installer des éléments du fameux bouclier antimissile en Europe de l'Est n'en finissent pas de provoquer des réactions hostiles en Russie. Ce différend entre Washington et Moscou intervient au moment où les relations bilatérales sont au plus bas depuis la fin de la guerre froide 
Zdroj: Le Figaro (France)

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26.03. 2007
Weak Economy in Kosovo has Bleak Prospects for Recovery
(By AFP)
Kosovo has been in limbo since 1999, when NATO intervened to halt a crackdown by Serbian forces against ethnic Albanians. Even with a solution to Kosovo’s disputed status, the province’s economy remains a dire problem with almost half the working population jobless and investment only trickling in.
Zdroj: Energia.gr (Greece)

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21.03. 2007
U.S. missile shield appears to turn back clock 
(By Mark John)
The long-cherished American dream of wrapping itself up in a missile defense shield has always had the power to jangle nerves in Europe. But few expected the latest outcry after U.S. overtures to Poland and the Czech Republic to host the European arm of its national missile defence system, with some European politicians even warning the move heralds the start of a new Cold War.
Zdroj: Defense News (USA)

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20.03. 2007
Rethinking NATO's role in missile defense
(By Brooks Tigner)
The US government’s aim of augmenting its national missile defense system with new radar and interceptor sites in Poland and the Czech Republic throws into question the primacy of NATO's role in missile defense and longstanding notions about deterrence, according to government and industry officials in Brussels.
Zdroj: ISN Security Watch (Switzerland)

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20.03. 2007
In Europe, the twain are yet to meet
(By Arnout Brouwers)
Moscow: The Kremlin should open the champagne and celebrate: In no time at all, President Vladimir Putin has succeeded in framing American plans for the installation of a limited missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic as Europe's main political issue.
Zdroj: International Herald Tribune (France)

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20.03. 2007
Is Kosovo Russia's test?
(By Lev Dzugayev)
The Washington Post carried an article entitled "Russia's Test in Kosovo." It could be ignored if not for the author -- Richard Holbrooke, who will be one of the candidates to the Secretary of State's position in the event of a Democratic victory. He has analyzed approaches to the Kosovo problem, which may throw light on the expected trends in the development of the world's most urgent issues, such as U.S. and NATO relations with Russia.
Zdroj: RIA Novosti (Russia)

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09.03. 2007
Afghanistan: pour bloquer l'assaut des talibans, l'Otan ne peut pas compter su r le Pakistan
(Par Marie-France Calle)
Pour le Pakistan, aider les talibans à reprendre le pouvoir à Kaboul lui permettrait de revenir au statu quo ante, de retrouver la « profondeur stratégique » qu'il a perdue après le 11 septembre 2001. C'est compter sans les États-Unis. Washington fait de plus en plus pression sur le général-président Pervez Musharraf pour qu'il brise les talibans. Islamabad juge-t-il la mission impossible ? Une bonne raison pour courtiser de nouveau les étudiants en théologie.
Zdroj: Le Figaro (France)

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02.03. 2007
La France et l'Irak
(Editorial)
La France a accepté de s'y rendre, en sachant que l'invitation émane du gouvernement irakien et non des puissances occupantes. L'annonce d'une telle conférence et la décision, rendue publique par la secrétaire d'Etat américaine, Condoleezza Rice, que les Etats-Unis allaient y participer - alors que l'Iran et la Syrie sont également conviés - ont pris les responsables français par surprise, et les laissent un peu dubitatifs.
Zdroj: Le Monde (France)

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28.02. 2007
Going it alone because we have to
(By Max Boot)
Look at Afghanistan, where NATO is always having trouble dredging up an extra helicopter or another infantry battalion to throw into the fray. The British and Canadians are doing more than their share; their willingness to fight hard and take casualties sets them apart from most NATO countries, which prefer to send troops to safe parts of Afghanistan rather than to the front lines in the south and east. But 5,500 British and 2,500 Canadian soldiers can cover only so much ground, even with another 1,500 Brits thrown in. As usual, the United States, with more than 27,000 troops in Afghanistan, is left to carry the lion's share of the burden.
Zdroj: Los Angeles Times (USA)

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25.02. 2007
Afghanistan is not Iraq: it can be saved
(By Christina Lamb)
I argued that British and other Nato troop numbers should be increased. Few would now disagree that Iraq was a disaster. But this should motivate us to try to get it right in Afghanistan, which was the real front line of the war on terror. The country was a base for terrorists under a horribly repressive Taliban regime, and it was from there that the 9/11 attacks were planned.
Zdroj: The Sunday Times (United Kingdom)

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19.02. 2007
The rewards of a larger NATO
(By Greg Craig and Ronald D. Asmus)
The critics were wrong when they opposed adding nations to the alliance in the 1990s, and they are still wrong. In fact, the more time that passes, the better the arguments in favor of enlargement look. There were basically three reasons for expanding NATO, and each has been proved right.
Zdroj: The Washington Post (USA)

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19.02. 2007
Darfour: chassé-croisé franco-américain
(Par Natalie Nougayrède)
La crise du Darfour est un terrain où les diplomaties française et américaine, à la lisière du monde arabe et de l'Afrique noire, s'entrecroisent et se mesurent, tantôt coopérant, tantôt s'opposant, mais de façon discrète. Comme sur l'Irak en 2003, et comme sur l'Iran depuis quelque temps, Jacques Chirac et son entourage pensent qu'une solution à cette crise doit impérativement passer par la seule diplomatie et un processus politique, dans le respect strict de la souveraineté soudanaise. Tout autre scénario reviendrait, jugent-ils, à préparer le terrain à un "second Irak".
Zdroj: Le Monde (France)

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19.02. 2007
Blaming Europe: NATO doesn't deserve the rap on Afghanistan
(Editorial)
The Europeans provided some troops for the effort to try to keep Taliban and al-Qaida out. They currently have some 22,000 troops in Afghanistan; the United States has 22,000. However, having been initially drawn into the Iraq war's "coalition of the willing" by the same scam the Bush administration worked on the American people, the Europeans fast tired of providing troops at U.S. behest. Their reasoning ran, if the United States can devote 140,000 troops to the Iraq war, which the Europeans do not support, why should the Europeans provide troops for Afghanistan only to free up U.S. forces for use in Iraq? At this very minute, as Mr. Bush calls on the Europeans to increase their forces in Afghanistan, he is increasing U.S. forces in Iraq by 21,500.
Zdroj: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (USA)

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14.02. 2007
Time for NATO wakeup call in Afghanistan
(By Lorrie Goldstein)
Save for the Americans, British and Dutch, Canada is carrying the fight to the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, virtually alone. This is unacceptable to our forces, who have been doing an outstanding job. It's time NATO, which has access to 800,000 troops but has a mere 33,000 in Afghanistan, woke up.
Zdroj: The Sun (Canada)

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08.02. 2007
Deutsche Flugzeuge sollen die Nato stützen 
(By Jacques Schuster)
Die Nato lebt vom Gedanken der Solidarität. Verliert er an Kraft, geht das Bündnis zugrunde. Gerade auf die Nato bleibt Deutschland angewiesen. Nicht die Europäische Union, sondern die Allianz bietet den Deutschen Sicherheit.
Zdroj: Die Welt (Germany)

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08.02. 2007
New U.S. emphasis on Afghan forces vital but risky
(By Terry Friel)
NATO, the United States and Afghan officials stress the main priority is reconstruction and building an economy, not security. "Whether the main thrust and focus should be on the army and police is, I think, open to question," said Hamidullah Tarzi, an academic, government adviser and former minister.
Zdroj: Reuters (United Kingdom)

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07.02. 2007
Nato must go global to have a meaningful purpose
(By Ronald Asmus)
An annual survey of the international military scene produces a picture of a messy "nonpolar" world rather than the "unipolar" or "multipolar" world often described as having emerged since the late 1980s.
Zdroj: Financial Times (United Kingdom)

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01.02. 2007
Powerful yet weak -- a US dilemma 
An annual survey of the international military scene produces a picture of a messy "nonpolar" world rather than the "unipolar" or "multipolar" world often described as having emerged since the late 1980s.
Zdroj: Mail & Guardian (South African Republic)

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30.1. 2007
The big Afghanistan push comes to shove  
(By Simon Tisdall)
The American attempt in Brussels to squeeze more help out of the European Nato allies, like a similar US-British effort at last November's Riga summit, appears to have little immediate impact. Lithuania has answered the call. Peer pressure is growing on France, Germany, Italy and Spain, who are accused of falling short in war-fighting and aid.
Zdroj: Guardian (United Kingdom)

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22.1. 2007
U.S. Will Press Broad NATO ‘Offensive’ in Afghanistan - Interview  
(By Kurt Volker, Robert McMahon)
One of the U.S. State Department’s chief officials responsible for NATO policy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Kurt Volker, says Washington will press in upcoming NATO meetings of foreign and defense ministers for more vigorous action in Afghanistan. Volker says in response to reports of a looming Taliban offensive in the spring, “we want to have our own offensive” that would include everything from reconstruction to assisting in the destruction of opium poppy crops.
Zdroj: Council On Foreign Relations (USA)

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10.1. 2007
Blaming Pakistan for Taliban insurgency
(By Ijaz Hussain)
Before forcing Musharraf to adopt a military solution of the issue it is imperative for the West to first satisfy Pakistan regarding NATO’s commitment to defeat the Taliban. Mere verbal assurances will not do. NATO will have to demonstrate it through practical steps.
Zdroj: Daily News (Pakistan)