Atlantic Council blogs

Is Putin’s Russia Fascist?

By Alexander J. Motyl

A growing number of Russian analysts, in Russia and abroad, have taken to calling Vladimir Putin’s regime “fascist.” And they don’t use the term casually or as a form of opprobrium. They mean that Putin’s Russia genuinely resembles Mussolini’s Italy or Hitler’s Germany.

Kerry Goes to Bat for Free Trade

In Atlantic Council address, Secretary of State says case for TPP, TTIP ‘overwhelming’ US Secretary of State John F. Kerry delivered a strong pitch for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) April 23, saying the economic case for both deals is “overwhelming.” A day earlier, the Senate Finance Committee […]

A ‘Window of Opportunity’ for TPP, TTIP

By Ashish Kumar Sen

White House official makes pitch for free-trade deals as Senate panel backs Trade Promotion Authority Two free-trade agreements currently being negotiated by the Obama administration will ensure a level playing field and benefit American workers, a senior White House official said April 23 at the Atlantic Council. “If we do not do this … the […]

Defining US Strategy for a World in Transition

By Larry Luxner

With war tearing apart eastern Ukraine, ethnic strife claiming lives from Libya to Yemen, and record numbers of African refugees drowning in the Mediterranean, it’s easy to conclude that the once-familiar world order is falling apart. Whether or not that’s true, few scholars would dispute that the United States is no longer in charge as […]

Top News: United States Concerned Iranian Ships May Carry Arms to Yemen

By MENASource

The United States is concerned a group of Iranian cargo ships may be carrying advanced weapons to Yemen, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday, as he called on Iran to avoid “fanning the flames” of the conflict with arms deliveries.

Top News: No Parliamentary Elections Before Ramadan, Says Minister

By EgyptSource

Transitional Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ibrahim al-Heneidy announced that the parliamentary elections will not be held until after Ramadan, due to technical and security issues. “We are ‎back to square one again and I do not expect the poll to ‎be held anytime soon ahead of the holy Islamic month of ‎Ramadan [which is […]

EconSource: ISIS Fills Coffers With Iraqi Government Cash, Sells Oil to Assad Regime

By EconSource

The Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) is skimming money from its enemies in both Damascus and Baghdad, making millions out of selling oil to the Assad regime and taxing Iraqi government money sent to civil servants in its fiefdom, according to a new BBC documentary.

Tales of Blasphemy in Egypt

By Ishak Ibrahim

Dr. Mahmoud Dahroug, a man of over sixty, lives in a constant state of suspense, fearing he will be arrested to serve a five-year prison sentence issued against him late last year for being a Shiite. Most of his acquaintances have distanced themselves from him, and Dahroug spends his time reading and surfing the Internet […]

Gazprom, Just Follow the Law

By Richard L. Morningstar

European energy security has received a great deal of attention on both sides of the Atlantic since Russia suspended gas shipments through Ukraine in the winter of 2009. In response to Ukraine’s experience, the European Union has taken steps to develop interconnectors and new liquefied natural gas facilities that would allow gas to flow to […]

Russia’s Lone Warrior Stands Up to Putin

By Irena Chalupa

Ilya Ponomarev has not slept in the same bed for more than a few nights since August 2014. The two-term legislator from Russia’s third-largest city Novosibirsk has been living in exile since Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, stripped him of parliamentary immunity.