From the AP:  Some officials in Germany and other U.S.

From NATO:   [W]e must develop an effective missile defence. In the coming years, we will probably face many more countries – and possibly even some non-state actors -- armed with long-range missiles and nuclear capabilities. Therefore, I believe that NATO’s deterrent posture should include missile defence. Deterrence works against rational actors, but not all actors that we will have to deal with in the future will be rational.  That’s why deterrence and defence need to go together.  And why we have the obligation to look into missile defence options. Excerpt from Speech by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at Strategic Concept Conference in Warsaw.  (photo: NATO)

From Foreign Policy:  This NATO review process is failing to account for three fundamental contradictions. First, NATO Secretary General Rassmussen stated that:  "We must face new challenges. Terrorism, proliferation, cyber security or even climate change will oblige us to seek new ways of operating. And in a time of financial and budget constraints, we need to maximize our efficiency within limited resources."  However, all of these issues are challenges far better suited for the European Union (EU) and a special US-EU relationship to manage rather than NATO.

From the AP:  NATO is facing new threats in cyberspace that cannot be met by lining up soldiers and tanks, the alliance's secretary-general said Thursday in an apparent reference to terror groups and criminal networks. Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there were several international actors who want "to know what's going on inside NATO, and they also use cyberspace to achieve their goals." He refused to give details or name groups except to say there were "many of them." "It's really a broad range of threats. There are many actors in cyberspace, and we have to develop a capacity to protect ourselves against those attacks," Fogh Rasmussen told reporters on the sidelines of a one-day NATO seminar in Helsinki... Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said there is "no peace" in cyberspace.

Afghanistan has eroded support for NATO in Washington. An alliance that has long enjoyed strong bipartisan support is now facing bipartisan skepticism. A Senate hearing this fall made clear that many on Capitol Hill are asking what the value of the alliance is in the future if it cannot succeed in Afghanistan today.

In the summer of 2008, the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen followed up an invitation from his fellow country-man, Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, to cycle the steepest rise of the central stage of the Tour. Twelve months later, career wise, Rasmussen ascended even higher: He succeeded Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as Secretary General of NATO.