Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy - Related In the News

Obama's Trip Abroad to Focus on Economy.

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

"The Europeans see in Obama the kind of American they like — open, democratic, compassionate, all of the things which they believed had been betrayed over the past several years," said Simon Serfaty, chair of global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

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U.S. Forces Prepare for Withdrawal but Questions Remain in Iraq.

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Now that President Obama has set the timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the debate has begun over its possible consequences.

Does it provide enough time for Iraqis to forge a functioning government and an economy that benefits everyone? And if it doesn't, could a civil war be the result?[...]

"The Kurds have ambitions of their own. The Sunnis have needs of their own. The Shiites have divisions of their own," said Simon Serfaty of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The reconciliation of those communities and the willingness to live within a single unit is still in question."

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A Financial New World Order?

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON - When President Bush hosts a world financial summit in the coming weeks, one of the least multilateral American presidents in decades will set in motion what could result in a full reordering of the global financial system.

"Talk of a Bretton Woods II has been around to different degrees for 30 years. But the fact it is getting started with an outgoing administration and especially one that was at the center of a significant crisis between America and Europe, between America and the rest of the world, suggests the recognition that there is urgency in the air," says Simon Serfaty, an expert in US-Europe relations at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. "It also adds legitimacy to the coming process."

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Bush to Hail European Ties.

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Despite the problem areas, many experts say U.S.-European relations have improved dramatically since Mr. Bush's first term, thanks to his renewed attention to Europe, as well as the ascendance of Mr. Sarkozy and fellow center-right leaders Angela Merkel of Germany and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. [...]

Simon Serfaty, an expert on Europe at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, terms the relationship between Washington and Paris "the best it has ever been, period."

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Bush Doesn't Rule Out Military Strike on Iran.

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

MESEBERG, Germany (AP) — President Bush on Wednesday raised unprompted the possibility of a military strike against Tehran's presumed nuclear weapons ambitions, speaking bullishly on Iran even as he admitted having been unwise to do so previously about Iraq.

"What we should do from the U.S. standpoint is not ask Merkel to do things she cannot do until the election is behind her," said Simon Serfarty, a global security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

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Bush Doesn't Rule Out Military Strike on Iran.

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

President Bush on Wednesday raised unprompted the possibility of a military strike against Tehran's presumed nuclear weapons ambitions, speaking bullishly on Iran even as he admitted having been unwise to do so previously about Iraq.

Bush's host in two days of meetings at a baroque castle, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, made clear her views on the saber-rattling — however subtle — without directly countering her guest. "I very clearly pin my hopes on diplomatic efforts," Merkel said, reflecting the deeply held European opinion that military action against Iran is nearly unthinkable.

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Bush Has Spring in His Step on Farewell Visit to West Europe.

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Five years ago, the notion of spending even a week in western Europe would have been distinctly unappetising for President George W. Bush.

But yesterday Mr Bush set off, on what is likely to be his last extended presidential trip to the continent, with a spring in his step.

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Dr. Simon Serfaty, the CSIS Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, had his book Architects of Delusion: Europe, Am

Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Serfaty, an expert on Europe and U.S. foreign policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Old Dominion University, brings a historical perspective to this study of transatlantic relations in regard to the Iraq war. Drawing on an intimate knowledge of postwar European history, he sees continuities with the past in the way key players on both sides approached the issue: France, for example, concluding that it could maximize its influence by standing up to the United States and the United Kingdom trying to do so by standing alongside it. But there were also discontinuities. Serfaty is as unsparing in his criticism of Germany's unilateralism -- a sharp break with German tradition -- as he is in his criticism of the Bush administration. Less a narrative about the Iraq diplomacy than an essay about the strategic cultures on both sides of the Atlantic, Architects of Delusion is marked by the author's palpable regret that neither European nor U.S. leaders put the premium on transatlantic (and intra-European) solidarity, which he believes is both necessary and possible. Serfaty rejects the popular thesis that Europe and the United States are inevitably growing apart, but the sad tale he tells in this book will leave readers wondering whether the transatlantic alliance that existed before the Iraq war can really be restored.

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Polish Chief Lukewarm on Missile Defense.

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Poland's new prime minister broke from the staunchly pro-American stance of his predecessor, saying in comments published Monday he will not rush a decision on hosting a U.S. missile defense base.

The tough line suggests the Bush administration's clout with allies is weakening. [...]

Simon Serfaty, a senior adviser for the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said certain issues are too pressing to put on hold, and that Germany, France and Britain have "determined they should not wait for the next administration."

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Bush's Last Year Will be Heavy on Travel.

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

WASHINGTON -- Eight years ago, George W. Bush's stay-at-home proclivities, seen by some as evidence of a lack of interest in the world beyond U.S. borders, became a troublesome issue as he ran for the White House.

Simon Serfaty, an expert on Europe and international security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the travel suggested a president "going in all directions...looking for one, two, three successful initiatives to allow him to be remembered as someone who looked at the world beyond Iraq."

To apply a mile-to-benefit ratio, does Serfaty think the travel will be worth it?

"I would not bet much money on it," he said.

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