Word: rasmussen
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...missile shield a central issue in negotiations with Washington over a new arms-control deal to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. That treaty expires in December, and Obama has made putting a new treaty in place by then a priority of his Russia policy. (Read "Anders Fogh Rasmussen: The Reformer...
...least Rasmussen knows politics. Nicknamed Prime Minister by schoolmates amused by his obsessive interest in the workings of government, Rasmussen went straight from university to parliament. He became known for a meticulous, almost robotic style. Danes didn't love him, but they respected that he got things done. As Prime Minister from 2001 until last April, Rasmussen pushed Denmark to the right by freezing tax increases and cutting immigration numbers, even as he safeguarded its liberal positions on issues like gay marriage and climate change. He oversaw the complex negotiations that led to the last big intake of new countries...
...biggest immediate challenge is Afghanistan. Though the war is becoming deeply unpopular in Europe, Rasmussen - leaning forward and cutting the air with his hands for emphasis - says taking on the Taliban "is not only Obama's war." NATO contributions are a personal issue: Denmark's military has one of the highest casualty rates in Afghanistan. "Our mission in Afghanistan is really a multilateral mission," he says. "Besides the United States, 41 nations have contributed ... around 30,000 troops." At the same time, he "would very much like to see further contributions from the European side" - perhaps, he says...
...Priority No. 2 for Rasmussen is Russia, which has always seen NATO's post-Cold War expansion as a threat to its own security. Rasmussen concedes that NATO needs to get better at explaining its intentions and convincing Moscow that there are areas of common interest - Afghanistan, ending the spread of weapons of mass destruction, piracy - on which the former adversaries can work together. In the long term he imagines a "true strategic partnership" between Russia and NATO. But he insists that the organization will remain open to new members - which potentially means Ukraine and Georgia, both of whom have...
...Persuading non-Americans that it is in their interest to do more in Afghanistan; finding common ground with Russia while conceding nothing to its neo-imperial ambitions - these are challenges that would daunt any politician. A keen runner and cyclist, Rasmussen has been known to invite Facebook friends (he has 34,636 of them) to exercise with him. He has remade his Facebook page in English, and says he wants to use it to give NATO a human face. There's nothing wrong with that. But his new job requires him to do a lot more than be friendly...