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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

Aug 14, 2015

Syria: An Open Letter to President Obama

By MENASource

US Representative to the United Nations Samantha Power said that the Assad regime has “apparently grown reliant on the repugnant use of barrel bombs as an instrument of terror against innocent Syrian civilians.” Over 2,000 barrel bombs dropped on Syria since the first week of July. It is within this context that Ambassadors Frederic Hof and […]

Syria

MENASource

Aug 14, 2015

EconSource: Turkey Central Bank Attempts to Stem Lira Slide

By EconSource

Turkey’s central bank lowered the cost of dollar borrowing for a fourth time this year, seeking to halt the lira’s slide after the breakdown of talks on the formation of a new government sent financial markets tumbling.

New Atlanticist

Aug 13, 2015

Of Rights and Wrongs in Cuba

By Ashish Kumar Sen

United States must continue to press Castro government on human rights, says Atlantic Council’s Peter Schechter The Obama administration must use the new opening in its relationship with Cuba to continue to press the government in Havana to respect human rights, says the Atlantic Council’s Peter Schechter. Cuban dissidents were conspicuous by their absence from […]

Cuba

MENASource

Aug 13, 2015

Can US Action Stop the War in Yemen?

By Nabeel Khoury and April Longley Alley

US-ally Saudi Arabia is leading a war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. But after nearly five months, the Houthis have entrenched themselves in captured territory, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) have gained ground, and the war has created a humanitarian catastrophe, with over 4,000 dead and aid agencies warning of impending famine.

Saudi Arabia Yemen

New Atlanticist

Aug 13, 2015

Combating Inaction in Europe’s Migrant ‘Crisis’

By Alexa Lipke

The tragedy on August 6, when hundreds of migrants drowned after their boat capsized off the coast of Libya, is eerily familiar. It parallels the story of the 800 deaths in April that brought the migrant crisis to the forefront of the political debate in Europe. While media and public interest has ebbed and flowed […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union

MENASource

Aug 13, 2015

Top News: ISIS Claims Truck Bombing at Baghdad Market That Killed Sixty-Seven

By MENASource

A massive truck bomb ripped through a popular Baghdad market in a predominantly Shia neighborhood Thursday morning, leaving at least sixty-seven dead and another 150 wounded. ISIS soon after claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted a gathering place of Shias and vowing to conduct more attacks.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, September 12, 2013

NATOSource

Aug 13, 2015

NATO Treats Poland Like a Buffer State, Says New President

By Henry Foy, Financial Times

Polish president Andrzej Duda has criticised Nato for treating Poland like a “buffer zone” rather than a fully fledged member facing a resurgent Russia and urged the alliance to place permanent bases in the former Soviet bloc country.

NATO Poland

MENASource

Aug 13, 2015

Top News: ISIS Claims Killing of Croatian Hostage at the Hands of Sinai State

By EgyptSource

The Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) said in an audio broadcast on Thursday that its Egyptian affiliate—the Sinai State, formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis—had killed a Croatian hostage, a day after a photograph of a beheaded corpse purported to be that of the Croat was circulated by the group’s supporters.

MENASource

Aug 13, 2015

Egypt and Saudi Arabia Mending Fences?

By MENASource

Ever since Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud assumed the throne from his late predecessor, relations between Egypt and the Kingdom saw a rise in tension as new Saudi priorities diverged from previously agreed upon mutual interests.

North Africa

MENASource

Aug 13, 2015

EconSource: Iraq to Endorse New Investment Law Next Week

By EconSource

Iraq’s parliament is expected to endorse a new investment law in the coming week in an effort to support the private sector, attract more foreign investments, and curb corruption.