Rasmussen's 7,000

Posted by Nanne Zwagerman in Transatlantic Relations, US Foreign Policy on Friday, December 4. 2009

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is promising that there will be 7,000 additional troops from 25 countries to support Obama's extended surge. Interestingly, one of the reasons he gave was the multilateralism of the US:
If we are to make Afghanistan more stable, and ourselves more secure, we must all do more. The US has pursued a multilateral approach to this operation. We must now demonstrate that multilateralism delivers concrete results.
Several commentators have recently hinted that Obama should act more unilaterally, as George W. Bush did (in his first term and a half). Calling for abandoning the multilateral approach is premature. The way multilateralism is described by its fans and opponents alike is also too romantic. The fact is that the US is still getting things done by excercising pressure on individual countries -- but it's doing so behind the scenes rather than through grandstanding. If Rasmussen is able to deliver his 7,000, it should show that the Obama administration's approach to diplomacy has worked.

Whether it really is as multilateral as it is said to be or not...
Permalink - Comments (16)
Defined tags for this entry: , ,
(Page 1 of 1, totaling 1 entries)

Sponsor

Fulbright Alumni

Fulbright Alumni e.V.

Interested in supporting
the Atlantic Review? Please
contact us

SUPPORT THIS SITE

Use these links to shop at Amazon USA or Amazon Deutschland:
 

 

Subscribe

AddThis Feed Button

Tips From Our Readers

(More)

The above links on transatlantic issues have been recommended by trusted readers. More information about this web 2.0 project ;-)
 
 

Latest Comments

Marie Claude about Now The Economist Respects Germany's Economic Model as well

"but for the neighbours, it is not necessarily good news" though not sure that the [...]Comments ()


Marie Claude about R.E.S.P.E.C.T. for Germany's Economic Model

sure, since http://bit.ly/cYIE2W Huffpost - Geithner: European Reforms Would [...]Comments ()


Joe Noory about R.E.S.P.E.C.T. for Germany's Economic Model

If you count that against all of the people on both sides of the ocean who are [...]Comments ()


Joe Noory about R.E.S.P.E.C.T. for Germany's Economic Model

Really? Find ONE example then.Comments ()


Joe Noory about Norway Wins the Olympics

Gee - Norways bags medeals in their national pass-time! Who could have [...]Comments ()


Marie Claude about Norway Wins the Olympics

for Russia, might be cuz of the "performant" drugs controlsComments ()


Blogroll

Recommended Blogs
 

Google the Site

Hot Topics

Click on one of the following links to see all Atlantic Review posts about this topic in a chronological order with the latest post on top:

















Click here for the full list of all topics.

Read posts from specific Atlantic Review authors

Ad

Read all about Quicktrim weight loss, and other wrinkle treatments.
You have to be logged in to view this page