Jim Townsend

Jim Townsend is an adjunct senior fellow in the Center for a New American Security’s Transatlantic Security Program. He served for eight years as U.S. President Barack Obama’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO.

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Articles by Jim Townsend
John Bolton and Donald Trump
John Bolton and Donald Trump

Bolton’s Book Is a Terrifying Warning About What Trump Could Still Do

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in London on Dec. 4.
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in London on Dec. 4.

NATO Is Struggling Under Trans-Atlantic Tensions

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend, Andrea Kendall-Taylor
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence addresses NATO member on Sept. 1, the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, in Warsaw, Poland.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence addresses NATO member on Sept. 1, the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, in Warsaw, Poland.

Trump’s Defense Cuts in Europe Will Backfire

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend
NASA avionics technician Lauren Prinski looks out the window of a research aircraft before takeoff from Thule Air Base in Greenland on March 30, 2017.
NASA avionics technician Lauren Prinski looks out the window of a research aircraft before takeoff from Thule Air Base in Greenland on March 30, 2017.

Here’s How Trump Should Have Approached Greenland

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend
Acting U.S. Secretary of Defence Mark Esper in Brussels on June 27.
Acting U.S. Secretary of Defence Mark Esper in Brussels on June 27.

An Acting Secretary of Defense Isn’t Enough

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend
U.S. and Polish troops in Orzysz, Poland, on April 13, 2017. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. and Polish troops in Orzysz, Poland, on April 13, 2017. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images)

Fort Trump Is a Farce

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend
PLESETSK, RUSSIAN FEDERATION: File photo shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) watching a launch,18 February 2004 at the Artic cosmodrome in Plesetsk. Russia has frozen its participation in a key arms control treaty that limits the deployment of military forces in Europe, the Kremlin announced 14 July 2007. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree halting Russia's application of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) arms control treaty due to "exceptional circumstances ... broaching on the security of the Russian Federation," the statement said. AFP PHOTO / MAXIM MARMUR (Photo credit should read MAXIM MARMUR/AFP/Getty Images)
PLESETSK, RUSSIAN FEDERATION: File photo shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) watching a launch,18 February 2004 at the Artic cosmodrome in Plesetsk. Russia has frozen its participation in a key arms control treaty that limits the deployment of military forces in Europe, the Kremlin announced 14 July 2007. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree halting Russia's application of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) arms control treaty due to "exceptional circumstances ... broaching on the security of the Russian Federation," the statement said. AFP PHOTO / MAXIM MARMUR (Photo credit should read MAXIM MARMUR/AFP/Getty Images)

Is the U.S. Ready for Russia’s Largest Military Exercises Since the Cold War?

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend
Head of the supervisory board of Gazprom's Nord Stream 2 and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder delivers a speech during a signing ceremony for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline agreement in Paris on April, 24, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ERIC PIERMONT (Photo credit should read ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images)
Head of the supervisory board of Gazprom's Nord Stream 2 and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder delivers a speech during a signing ceremony for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline agreement in Paris on April, 24, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ERIC PIERMONT (Photo credit should read ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images)

Trump Should Urge Europe to Resist Putin’s Pipeline Politics

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend, Azita Raji
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 01: U.S. President Donald Trump announces his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement in the Rose Garden at the White House June 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the accord, which former President Barack Obama and the leaders of 194 other countries signed in 2015. The agreement is intended to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit global warming to a manageable level. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 01: U.S. President Donald Trump announces his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement in the Rose Garden at the White House June 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the accord, which former President Barack Obama and the leaders of 194 other countries signed in 2015. The agreement is intended to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit global warming to a manageable level. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Why Abandoning Paris Is a Disaster for America

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Daniel B. Baer, Daniel Benjamin, Hal Brands, Reuben E. Brigety II, Sharon Burke, Derek Chollet, Sheba Crocker, Dan Feldman, Jon Finer, Nina Hachigian, Colin Kahl, Kelly Magsamen, Tom Malinowski, Jeffrey Prescott, Ely Ratner, Vikram Singh, Julie Smith, Jake Sullivan, Jim Townsend
TrumpCheshire
TrumpCheshire

NATO Prepares to Be Disappointed by the Cheshire Cat President

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Julie Smith, Jim Townsend
Sweden's ambassador to UN Olof Skoog speaks during an United Nations Security Council meeting on Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York on April 7, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
Sweden's ambassador to UN Olof Skoog speaks during an United Nations Security Council meeting on Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York on April 7, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Trump Is Overlooking an Obvious U.S. Partner

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend, Azita Raji
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives to attend a meeting on Syria at the World Conference Center in Bonn, western Germany, February 17, 2017. / AFP / POOL / Oliver Berg (Photo credit should read OLIVER BERG/AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives to attend a meeting on Syria at the World Conference Center in Bonn, western Germany, February 17, 2017. / AFP / POOL / Oliver Berg (Photo credit should read OLIVER BERG/AFP/Getty Images)

For Tillerson, Showing Up at NATO Isn’t Enough

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend, Julie Smith
US Defence Minister James Mattis addresses the press during a NATO defence ministers' meetings at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 15, 2017. / AFP / EMMANUEL DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
US Defence Minister James Mattis addresses the press during a NATO defence ministers' meetings at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 15, 2017. / AFP / EMMANUEL DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Can Mattis Back Up His NATO Threat?

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend
KEVIN DIETSCH/Pool/Getty Images
KEVIN DIETSCH/Pool/Getty Images

It’s Mattis and Pence to the Rescue of the Transatlantic Alliance

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Julie Smith, Jim Townsend
SALISBURY, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 29: Prime Minister Theresa May passes tanks as she visits 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords) at their barracks at Bulford Camp on September 29, 2016 near Salisbury, England. The Prime Minister visited the military base in the Salisbury Plain area to meet with soldiers, see the equipment they work with and to also meet with some their families. (Photo by Matt Cardy - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
SALISBURY, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 29: Prime Minister Theresa May passes tanks as she visits 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords) at their barracks at Bulford Camp on September 29, 2016 near Salisbury, England. The Prime Minister visited the military base in the Salisbury Plain area to meet with soldiers, see the equipment they work with and to also meet with some their families. (Photo by Matt Cardy - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Is Trump Even Ready to Host America’s Most Important Ally?

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Jim Townsend, Julie Smith
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