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ASP’s Joshua Foust reports from the NATO Summit in Chicago

Confidence building is needed in upcoming P5+1 – Iran talks

Terri Lodge, American Security Project  / The Hill

The most promising summit in years is scheduled to take place this week between the P5+1 and Iran to discuss the enduring stalemateover the Iranian nuclear program. A number of factors – the threat of additional sanctions, a growing divide in Israel, and an Iranian willingness to discuss ideas – are coming together in a way that indicates a successful dialogue may be achievable. This meeting has the potential to actually accomplish something tangible and finally cross the threshold from talk to action.

Oil not on table for Iranian nuke talks
UPI

U.S. officials slated to take part in nuclear negotiations with Iran in Baghdad aren’t likely to back off sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, officials said.

Exclusive: U.S. envoy to Afghanistan to step down shortly

Missy Ryan / Reuters

Veteran U.S. diplomat Ryan Crocker is expected to step down soon from his post as President Barack Obama’s envoy to Afghanistan, departing the U.S. mission in Kabul as the United States negotiates a host of challenges on its course out of the long, costly war.

Afghans back Chicago deal, warn West to keep promises

Mirwais Harooni and Rob Taylor / Reuters

People in Afghanistan were surprisingly optimistic on Tuesday about NATO’s plan to pull combat troops out of their war-ravaged nation by the end of 2014, but warned Western leaders to stick to aid and security promises.

Topic: START: Russia-U.S. nuclear talks

Russia Today

U.S. military inspectors have conducted five inspections of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) arsenal over the last six months as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3), SMF Commander Lt. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said on Monday.

On Our Flashpoint Blog 

Upcoming ASP event: A Conversation with Walter Pincus: Nukes, Missiles, and the Truth

Wallin: On Airplanes and Airshows

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending two airshows, one of which was the Joint Services Open House held at Joint Base Andrews just outside of DC. It’s been a while since I’ve attended a more “modern” airshow, as lately I’ve focused more on the vintage shows seeing some of America’s most rare and noteworthy aircraft of yesteryear.

Wallin: Analog vs. Digital in the Diplomatic World

The analog vs. digital debate has turned from watches, to cameras, and now to diplomacy. Today I attended an event on Digital Diplomacy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Given my skepticism of many digital diplomacy efforts, I was pleased to come out of the event with impression that there is a general understanding of the limits of digital efforts. It seems that even amongst digital’s proponents, there is an appreciation of the importance of “analog,” old-fashioned

Holland: Race for Arctic Energy Resources Shows Need for U.S. to Ratify Law of the Sea Treaty

As I have been researching and writing about Arctic energy development recently, there’s one important – and easy – policy prescription that often comes up: joining the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). As I mentioned in my article, “Energy Development in the Arctic: Threats and Opportunities” the USGS estimates that the Arctic region has 22% of the world’s undiscovered energy resources – and 84% of those resources are expected to occur offshore (so 18.5% of the undiscovered resources are on or under the Arctic seabed).

Boyle: “Strategic Pivots,” Partnerships, and the Chicago Summit: how NATO plans to save itself

NATO’s upcoming summit in Chicago on May 20-21, has been much publicized as the organization’s last chance to remain relevant amidst shifting economic and security climates. 

ASP Reports and Media

Measuring Success

“As we look toward the Chicago Summit and NATO’s coming decisions about Afghanistan it is important to understand how the war is going. And while some things seem worse than ever, we just don’t have a good idea of whether we are progress toward achieving President Obama’s strategy or not.”

About the American Security Project: The American Security Project is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges.

For more information, visit www.americansecurityproject.org. info@americansecurityproject.org

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