Afghanistan and missile defense on the table at NATO summit
Top news: President Barack Obama will arrive in Lisbon today for a NATO conference at which he will face tough questions over the U.S. exit strategy for Afghanistan and economic policies and the alliance will attempt to define a new role for itself.
NATO leaders are expected to endorse a plan to being the handover of security responsibility for some areas of Afghanistan to local forces next year and end the alliance's combat role by 2014. NATO officials also say they expect unanimous support for a new expanded missile defense system in Europe. The alliance will not single out any specific target for the shield, as alliance member Turkey objects to its ally Iran being named a hostile country.
NATO will also adopt a new strategic concept at the meeting aimed at defining the alliance's future role. The document will likely warn member nations against further deep cuts in defense spending, as most European nations are not currently meeting the NATO requirement of 2 percent of GDP spent on defense.
The trip is also a chance for Obama to do some fence-mending with European allies. European leaders were insulted by the administration's decision to cancel a U.S.-E.U. summit earlier this year, and the president is likely to assure them at a brief summit on Saturday that he is not neglecting the continent as his administration prioritized relations with Asia. Obama will likely also defend the U.S. preference for stimulus spending at a time when many European governments are enacting austerity programs.
Currency war: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will defend U.S. quantitative easing and criticize China's undervaluation of the yuan in a speech at a European Central Bank conference today.
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-By Joshua Keating |  |
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