Max Bergmann is a Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress and a nonproliferation blogger for Think Progress. Bergmann is also an editor of Association Football, an American soccer blog.

Max was formerly the Deputy Policy Director at the National Security Network. Prior to joining NSN, Bergmann was a Research Associate for National Security at the Center for American Progress from 2004 to 2007. Bergmann has been published by The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, The New Republic, The American Prospect, The Washington Times, the Baltimore Sun, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Bergmann received his master’s degree from the London School of Economics in Comparative Politics with a concentration on Ethnic Conflict Regulation and the European Union. Max is from Gainesville, Florida and received his B.A. from Bates College.

Blog Entries by Max Bergmann

The Decade American Soccer Arrived

Posted December 31, 2009 | 11:06 AM (EST)


As the sun sets on the 00s, it is worth an initial look back on the decade that was and some thoughts on the decade that will be. While politically, economically, and socially this will be seen as one of the worst decades in memory, when it comes to soccer,...

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World Cup Draw As it Happened

1 Comments | Posted December 4, 2009 | 12:19 PM (EST)


To conclude - This was a great great draw for the US, a better draw for Mexico, but no complaints from this US fan. I think all the groups look pretty balanced. We got the weakest teams in pot 3 (Algeria) and pot 4 (Slovenia). England will likely take care...

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Philadelphia Union Gaining Momentum

1 Comments | Posted December 3, 2009 | 10:33 AM (EST)


There has been a lot of activity going on in Philadelphia. Their new coach, Peter Novak, has pretty much telegraphed his approach to next season: defend first and then scrap for goals. This is a team being built from the back.

The industrious Greg Seltzer, of No...

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World Cup Draw: Teams the US Will Hope to Avoid

11 Comments | Posted December 1, 2009 | 11:13 PM (EST)


I have a theory about the US team. I think we match up much better against more technical sides than sides that can match our athleticism.

Against technical sides like Italy and even Spain that play at a more measured pace, we match up very well. The first half...

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US-Denmark Rewind

Posted November 19, 2009 | 11:39 AM (EST)


Well that didn't feel good. 3-1 defeats never do. The US had a decent first half and went in with a one-nil lead. Benni Feilhaber was all over the place and Jeff Cunningham had a great goal, putting him in contention for a World Cup spot. But Denmark outplayed the...

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US-Slovakia: Forget the Scoreline, US Impressed

2 Comments | Posted November 15, 2009 | 10:03 AM (EST)


In the blogoshpere, the US team has often been compared to Slovakia when trying to assess America's international soccer. Optimists argued the US was far superior to Slovakia, while critics of the UMNT often argued that the U.S. wasn't even close to the Slovaks. Slovakia is exactly the type of...

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US-Slovakia Preview: Things to Watch For

2 Comments | Posted November 12, 2009 | 06:52 AM (EST)


The US will take on Slovakia in Bratislava on Saturday in its first exhibition match since it qualified for the World Cup (10 am on Fox Soccer Channel). These are two very evenly matched teams with Slovakia featuring Liverpool's intimidating central defender Martin Skrtel and Serie A midfielder Marek Hamsik.

...

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Nobel Critics Ignore Obama's Massive Foreign Policy Impact

10 Comments | Posted October 9, 2009 | 12:19 PM (EST)


Thought experiment: Who else really should have won the Nobel Peace Prize? I am sure you can come up with some names, but the basic fact is that Obama - by making the most powerful country in the world not just reengage but lead on major global issues - has...

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F-22 Victory Is About More Than Just a Plane

19 Comments | Posted July 21, 2009 | 06:12 PM (EST)


It is sometimes easy to overstate the significance of a fight over a particular weapon system. But in this case I think it is fair to say that this is a huge victory for Obama and Gates and is a big step forward toward instituting a strategic shift within the...

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On Soccer, Neocons Sound Like Anti-American Europeans

21 Comments | Posted June 25, 2009 | 06:30 PM (EST)


Gary Schmitt's riff on America's victory over Spain is rightfully getting ripped. What I want to add though is how weird it is that the neocons -- the people who are all about invading foreign lands -- would adopt such an isolationist view, especially at a time...

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We Still Must Engage Iran

11 Comments | Posted June 15, 2009 | 12:50 PM (EST)


In response to the news from the streets of Tehran, American conservatives took to the airwaves, calling for aggressive and direct American support for the demonstrators. Americans are justifiably sympathetic to the Iranian demonstrators but an over the top response from the Obama administration, would only make the situation worse,...

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Don't Dismiss Obama's Role in Lebanese Elections

33 Comments | Posted June 8, 2009 | 05:37 PM (EST)


This has been tossed around on the internets today and I think it is very much an open question. There was a wide expectation that Hezbollah was going to win the parliamentary elections, instead the more pro-western March 14th movement was victorious. The AP framed the elections as...

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Obama's Progressive Defense Budget

Posted April 6, 2009 | 04:21 PM (EST)


Since coming to office Gates has discussed the need for the military to move in a dramatic new direction, but action had been limited - until now. The budget laid out by Gates gives a clear indication that the Obama administration is serious about finally shedding the legacy of the...

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Afghanistan is not "Harder" than Iraq

Posted March 25, 2009 | 11:59 AM (EST)


I have to take issue with the now clichéd line that Afghanistan is harder than Iraq. It is hard - very hard - but saying it is "harder" is Monday morning quarterbacking with rose-colored glasses. As Iraq descended into chaos in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, there was...

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Obama's Global Op-Ed -- Its Prospects and its European Limits

Posted March 24, 2009 | 11:48 AM (EST)


G20_Melbourne_meeting_room

In what is sure to make all oped writers blush with envy, Obama today had an oped on the global economy published in 30 papers around the world. I believe that maybe the first...

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McCain vs. Petraeus

Posted March 19, 2009 | 10:47 AM (EST)


Gen-david-petraeus-mccain One of the real benefits of last year's election was that it dispelled the myth that McCain was a reasonable foreign policy centrist and exposed the fact that he was actually a reckless neocon. For instance,...

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Britain's Making the Special Relationship Less Relevant

Posted March 5, 2009 | 01:58 PM (EST)


Eu_usa_uk_flag

The special relationship is losing its luster and it relevance. Contrary, to the UK press, this has little to do with the personal relationship between Obama and Brown or his electoral troubles, but is a byproduct of Iraq and the UK's...

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The EU's Political Deficit

Posted March 4, 2009 | 06:13 PM (EST)


Things are getting bad in Europe, real bad, and the costs of European dithering are increasing. There has been plenty of excellent commentary about the crisis in Europe and the need for European political leaders to step up. (See Matt, Adam, and NSN's piece today). But to...

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Mitchell "An Ideal Man for the Job"

Posted January 23, 2009 | 05:08 PM (EST)


While some are questioning the appointment of George Mitchell as a special envoy to the Middle East on the grounds that he will be too objective and balanced, but if peace is your objective then Obama could not have picked a better person. His...

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A Progressive Case for Gates

Posted December 1, 2008 | 01:02 PM (EST)


The appointment of Secretary Gates is sure to irk many progressives - and for good reason. Gates was a part of the Bush administration, he oversaw the implementation of the President's "surge" strategy, and has supported missile defense. While many progressives acknowledge that Gates has said some reasonable things (on...

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