Atlantic Council blogs

The Time is Right for a ‘More Assertive’ US Role on World Stage

By Rachel Ansley

The United States must take on a “more assertive” role on the global stage as President-elect Donald Trump and his newly appointed team devise a cohesive national security strategy to deter and counter both immediate and looming challenges, according to the Atlantic Council’s Barry Pavel, who is a former member of the National Security Council […]

A Democracy Test in The Gambia

By Kelsey Lilley

Even as Donald Trump was preparing for his inauguration as the next president of the United States, a more contentious transition of power was being attempted in the Gambia, where the incumbent president, Yahya Jammeh, has stubbornly refused to make way for President-elect Adama Barrow. Senegalese forces under the umbrella of Economic Community of West […]

Ukraine Confident US Support Will Not Waver

By Teri Schultz

‘Channeling Brussels’ with Yehor Bozhok, Ukraine’s acting head of mission at NATO While the United States’ allies in Europe have been shaken by US President-elect Donald Trump’s description of NATO as “obsolete” and his suggestion that he may consider relaxing US sanctions imposed on Russia for its actions in Ukraine, Ukraine’s top diplomat at NATO […]

Look for These Foreign Policy Themes in Trump’s Inaugural Address

By Alex Ward

Though inauguration speeches are not known for their foreign policy pronouncements, the world’s complexity demands that US President-elect Donald J. Trump mention foreign policy in his address to the nation during his inauguration on January 20. In 1905, Theodore Roosevelt used his speech to describe how the United States could continue on the path to […]

The Reina Nightclub Attack Might Change Turkey-China Relations

By Ivy Yang

The Reina nightclub attack in Istanbul on New Year’s Eve left 39 dead and dozens injured. When he was captured on January 17, Turkish officials said that the main suspect, Abdulkadir Masharipov, is an Uzbek national and a member of the Islamic State. Signs show that he might also be an ethnic Uyghur, and though […]

TRADE in ACTION – January 19, 2017

By Global Business & Economics Program

This week in TRADEinACTION: European Parliament announces new President, US- EU take stock of trade relations, World Economic Forum in Davos – and a new US President on Friday.

Trump Said What?

A closer look at some of Donald Trump’s foreign policy positions US President-elect Donald Trump’s comments about NATO, the European Union (EU), and Russia have rattled US allies as they look for indicators as to how the United States will engage with the international community and establish its role in the world. On January 16, […]

Trump’s Cabinet Knows NATO is Important, But It’s Not Clear He Agrees

By Editorial Board of the Washington Post

CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY by Donald Trump’s national security nominees last week suggested that the incoming administration would not seek to dismantle the alliances that have undergirded the West — and U.S. global leadership — since 1945.

How Far Will Putin Dare to Go in 2017?

By Peter Dickinson

From Brexit to Trump, 2016 was the year fake news became headline news. In Ukraine, however, it was old news. Ukrainians are living through the third winter of an ongoing hybrid war with Russia, a conflict driven to a remarkable degree by fake news. But fake news is only one of the many hybrid war […]