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Atlantic Council blogs provide short-form analyses from Council experts and a wider community of global voices on the world’s most important news stories.
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Econographics

Jul 31, 2026

The infrastructure for tokenized bank deposits is beginning to take shape

By Hung Tran

Tokenized bank deposits remain modest in scale and largely limited to fragmented, bank-specific networks. Yet recent pilots suggest that the infrastructure needed for cross-border use is beginning to emerge.

Digital Currencies Digital Policy

AfricaSource

Jul 31, 2026

In the battle of the AI stacks, model quality won’t be the most decisive factor

By Amaka Yvonne Onyemenam

The US and Chinese strategies indicate that financing, powering, and permitting infrastructure matter most, and the African evidence so far bears it out.

Africa Artificial Intelligence

MENASource

Jul 31, 2026

US dollar shipments to Iraq are a molehill, not a mountain

By Ahmed Tabaqchali

The impact of the recent pause in US dollar shipments to Iraq is far less severe than many assume, because Iraq's economy has modernized.

Dollar Dominance Economy & Business

MENASource

Jul 31, 2026

Why GCC integration matters more than ever

By Khalid Azim

Gulf countries can't build their knowledge economies of the future on their own.

Economy & Business Inclusive Growth

UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2026

Putin’s pitiful naval parade highlights his inability to stop Ukrainian drones

By Peter Dickinson

Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced widespread ridicule following dramatically downgraded Navy Day celebrations that underlined his inability to secure Russian airspace against Ukrainian drones, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Technologies

UkraineAlert

Jul 30, 2026

Ukraine’s reconstruction: Advancing from solidarity to shared strategic interests

By Olga Usenko

The future success of Ukraine's reconstruction will increasingly depend on Kyiv’s ability to promote participation in the country’s recovery not only as a moral imperative, but also as a shared economic and security interest, writes Olga Usenko.

Conflict Economy & Business

EnergySource

Jul 28, 2026

How the US can achieve nuclear energy dominance at home and abroad

By Justin Friedman

Washington has several levers at its disposal to accelerate the deployment of new nuclear energy.

Energy & Environment Nuclear Energy

UkraineAlert

Jul 28, 2026

Wartime Ukraine’s people power protests are Putin’s worst nightmare

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainians have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The protests are a reminder of the vibrant democratic culture that provoked Putin's invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society Conflict

GeoTech Cues

Jul 27, 2026

The best AI you can own is Chinese. The West needs to close that gap quickly.

By Ivan Ferrari

The controls the West built around the data center do not reach the laptop, and the answer is to compete on open models.

Artificial Intelligence China

Econographics

Jul 27, 2026

Why banning open-source AI is a bad idea

By JP Schnapper-Casteras

The best response to capable Chinese open models is not to make US developers less capable. It is to build better, safer, more competitive US models—open and closed.

Artificial Intelligence China