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 »

Solicitor General and Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan wrote 15 years ago that confirmation hearings for justices to the high court had become a “vapid and hollow charade, in which repetition of platitudes has replaced discussion of viewpoints and personal anecdotes have supplanted legal analysis.” Read the rest of this entry »

Even before the sour economy forced many households to cut back on superfluous expenses, only a tiny fraction of Americans gave money to political candidates. But the impact on the political process of those who do give is, simply put, enormous. It’s part of a trend that looks to continue and even exacerbate the outsize influence of the relative few wealthy enough to contribute regular large sums to those seeking office in the November elections. Read the rest of this entry »

The CIA’s campaign of using drones—unmanned aircraft—against enemies of the United States is one of Washington’s most open secrets. Last week, al Qaeda said its most recent No. 3 leader, an Egyptian named Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was killed in Pakistan along with family members—apparently by a CIA drone missile. Read the rest of this entry »