Picture of the week

by | Nov 19, 2010 | Off topic

You have to love this picture that Wired.com used to illustrate a story about US surveillance of Russian nuclear weapons.

What tickles me is the fact that the launcher has not one, not two but three fire extinguishers fixed to the front – as though three would somehow offer more protection than one or two if this baby caught fire.

One imagines a grizzled colonel of artillery opining, “Look, Yuri, you can’t be too careful where nukes are concerned…”

Jay-Z’s tune has changed, but has NATO?

by | Nov 19, 2010 | Conflict and security, Global system

The 2010 NATO Summit kicks off in Lisbon today. Source: NATO

1999. The year the euro was established. Gates’ personal fortune surpassed $100bn. Napster was born. Jay-Z delighted fans with lyrics such as “More money, more cash, more hoes (what)”. NATO intervened in Yugoslavia, attacking a sovereign country for the first time. It was also the year that NATO adopted its most recent “Strategic Concept”.

And how times have changed.

I’m here in Lisbon for the 2010 NATO summit (thanks to the Atlantic Council’s Young Atlanticist Summit), and there’s a buzz in town. Lauded as one of the most crucial in the organisation’s 61 year history, 28 Heads of State will arrive today to approve the alliance’s new mission statement for the next decade – the 2010 Strategic Concept.

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