Ian Brzezinski, a deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO policy during the George W. Bush administration, has spent more than two decades in public service, much of it working on military issues between the United States and Europe. His work has earned him medals of commendation from the governments of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Romania. He recently joined the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank that studies trans-Atlantic relations, as an expert on NATO, the 28-nation political-military alliance. President Obama and the other NATO leaders plan to hold a summit in November in Lisbon, Portugal, to discuss how NATO will handle security threats in the 21st century. In addition to discussing the war in Afghanistan, the alliance’s first military undertaking outside of Europe, the leaders are expected to approve a new “strategic concept” to guide NATO’s future missions. Brzezinski talked with U.S. News recently about the outlook for the alliance. Excerpts: Read the rest of this entry »

In his first major speech on immigration reform since taking office, President Obama called for a “practical, common sense approach” to dealing with one of the highest-voltage third rails in American politics. While thin on specifics, he outlined a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the United States that would include paying a fine, waiting in line behind legal immigrants, and learning to speak English. “The politics of who is and who is not allowed to enter the country, and on what terms, has always been contentious,” Obama said at American University’s School of International Service. Read the rest of this entry »