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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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SyriaSource

Sep 27, 2015

Syria: The Assad Conundrum

By Frederic C. Hof

Distinguished intellectual and former Obama administration official Philip Gordon has called for a fundamental Syria policy recalculation centering on the status of Bashar al-Assad. Gordon’s basic thesis is that if Washington and its partners drop their demand for preemptive victory—Bashar’s immediate departure—Iran and Russia may see their way clear to shuffling their noisome client off […]

Syria

UkraineAlert

Sep 25, 2015

Is Syria Putin’s Off-Ramp from the Ukraine Crisis?

By John E. Herbst

Ever since Moscow’s “little green men” appeared in Crimea, the West has been anxious to provide Russian President Vladimir Putin an “off-ramp” from his aggression in Ukraine. US, French, German, and European Union diplomats have made numerous efforts to find a face-saving way for Putin to back off. For the longest time, however, it seemed […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 25, 2015

Europe’s Next Wave of Migrants May Come From Ukraine

By Diane Francis

In chess, a player is in “zugzwang” when no move will rescue his situation. Russian President Vladimir Putin has put Ukraine in “zugzwang” and, as things now stand, the country is unable to move forward militarily, economically or diplomatically. Without relief, Europe may end up with another deluge of asylum seekers, this time from Ukraine. […]

Russia Ukraine

SyriaSource

Sep 25, 2015

Slaughter In Syria: Mass Homicide And Echoes Of Bosnia

By Frederic C. Hof

Critics of presidential passivity really want hundreds of thousands of uniformed Americans thrust into a foreign war. The killings are horrific, but reflect age-old hatreds and grudges. The opposition is hapless, and it too does bad things: there are “no good guys” and the conflict itself defines complexity.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2015

Colombia’s Peace Negotiations: Keeping the Focus on Transitional Justice

By Andrea Saldarriaga Jiménez

A pledge by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londoño (better known by the nom de guerre Timochenko), the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), at their historic meeting in Havana on September 23 to end Latin America’s longest-running conflict within six months has raised expectations for peace. But while […]

Colombia
Gen. Ben Hodges, Commander of US Army Europe, Aug. 6, 2015

NATOSource

Sep 25, 2015

General: US Forces in Europe Missing Three Key Capabilities

By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense

US command and control networks take too long to link to allies and respond to Russia’s rapid-fire aggression.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

MENASource

Sep 25, 2015

The Implications of Russia’s Syria Intervention for Turkey

By Aaron Stein

Russia’s recent deployment of aircraft and military equipment in Syria runs counter to Turkey’s efforts to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The introduction of Russian aircraft and surface-to-air missiles prompted many to argue that Moscow is seeking to prevent the establishment of a US- and Turkish-backed air-exclusion zone over parts of northern Syria.

Russia Syria

MENASource

Sep 25, 2015

Top News: Saudis Seek to Fend Off UN Inquiry on Yemen

By MENASource

Dutch diplomats want the UN human rights chief to send a mission to report on possible abuses and conflict-related crimes in Yemen. The Netherlands submitted a resolution Thursday at the UN Human Rights Council while Yemen and Saudi Arabia also submitted one calling for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide “technical assistance” […]

MENASource

Sep 25, 2015

Top News: Egypt Keen to Participate Effectively at UN General Assembly Says Presidency

By EgyptSource

Egypt will present its views on various issues during President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to the UN General Assembly, said presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef, who added that the country is keen on participating fully in Assembly activities.

MENASource

Sep 25, 2015

EconSource: Report Says Gender Equality Could Yield $2.7 Trillion in Economic Gains for the Region

By EconSource

A new study by the McKinsey Global Institute finds that were women in the Middle East and North Africa to enjoy the same economic opportunities as men, the region would be $2.7 trillion better off between now and 2025.