Compiled by Tomáš Siviček, Slovak Atlantic Commission

On January 17, 2008, the Slovak Atlantic Commission and the Euro-Atlantic Center, under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic Ján Kubiš and with his personal participation, convened an international security conference in Bratislava on international cooperation and its role in addressing conflicts. The conference was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, United Nations Information Service Vienna and the US Embassy in Bratislava.   read more...

Lessons learned in the stabilizing of Afghanistan will extend to many of the
g lobal problems facing us today. F or this reason the expertise gained in
Afghanistan will not just become lost in NATO operational strategies but they
will become major opportunities within all of the participating NATO countries.   read more...

Peace, freedom and democracy is still achievable despite the many mistakes the aid community has made in the last five years in Afghanistan.
But need to know the Afghanistani version of peace, freedom and democracy to be able to achieve national, regional, and international objectives.
The Afghan people have a long heritage as a “proud culture”… A heritage gained during their long history that has taught them to never allow foreigners to rule them. This distrust of a foreign presence and influence has become a cultural trait for all patriotic Afghans who have always defended their homeland. In spite of the international community’s significant efforts and tremendous support provided to the Afghan nation, their strong identity, as well as their past glories, was either undermined or not taken seriously by the international community... perhaps to avoid provocative strategies.   read more...

Something strange is going on in the global opium market, and it could spell trouble.

Opium is a commodity -- an illegal commodity, but it should still be subject to the normal rules of supply and demand.

Annual demand for opium is approximately 4,500 tons. Last year a record 6,100 tons were produced in Afghanistan alone. That country's production is 30 percent more than total world demand. Heroin prices should, in theory, be plummeting. But they are not. So what is going on?   read more...

Lt. Colonel Chris Cavoli was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal Click for a pdf of the article.   read more...