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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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MENASource

Nov 7, 2014

Implementing the President’s New Syria Policy

By Frederic C. Hof

On October 14, 2014 President Barack Obama signaled a profound shift in American policy toward Syria.  He told foreign chiefs of defense at Andrews Joint Base that beating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL and the Islamic State) in Syria will “require us developing and strengthening a moderate opposition […]

Syria

MENASource

Nov 7, 2014

Top News: Washington Weighs Sanctions on Libyan Factions to Try to Halt Proxy War

By MENASource

The United States is considering imposing unilateral sanctions on Libya’s combative factions in an effort to pressure militants to negotiate and prevent a proxy conflict from erupting into a full-blown civil war.

French warship Mistral (L9013)

NATOSource

Nov 7, 2014

Congressional Leaders Renew Call for NATO to Purchase French Warships Intended for Russia

By Eliot Engel, Mike Rogers, Mike Turner, Bill Keating, Steve Cohen, Gerry Connolly, Steve Chabot, and Jim Gerlach

Text of congressional letter sent to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

France NATO

MENASource

Nov 7, 2014

Top News: US Rights Organizations Urge Obama to Take Stand against Egypt’s NGO Law

By EgyptSource

Eleven US based organizations and individuals wrote a letter to US President Barack Obama on Friday urging him to “engage preventively and use all available means to make clear to President al-Sisi that there will be serious consequences if there is a further crackdown on NGOs.”

MENASource

Nov 7, 2014

EconSource: Tunisia-EU agreement to Boost Access to Markets

By EconSource

According to the director-general of the Tunisian Institute for Consumers’ Rights, Tunisia and the European Union have signed a commercial agreement regulating market access, quality and consumers’ rights. The agreement is expected to boost Tunisian exports towards European countries.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, Oct. 20, 2014

NATOSource

Nov 7, 2014

Finland and Sweden Reject Common Approach to NATO Membership

By Gerard O’Dwyer, Defense News

Sweden and Finland, currently engaged in bilateral defense cooperation talks, have no plans to jointly attempt to join NATO.

NATO NATO Partnerships

UkraineAlert

Nov 7, 2014

For Putin, Ukraine’s Elections Backfired. So the War Is On Again.

By James Rupert

Analysts: Moscow Fights Now with Mercenaries and Local Trainees, But in 20 Weeks May Again Send Its Own Troops The Russian-Ukrainian conflict in southeastern Ukraine is sliding back quickly into all-out war. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said this morning that its forces have killed 200 separatist fighters and destroyed four tanks, plus artillery in the past […]

Eastern Europe Russia

New Atlanticist

Nov 7, 2014

Silent Partner

By Bilal Y. Saab

How Oman Became the Middle East’s Indispensable Nation To many Omanis, it is offensive to openly contemplate life after Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, the widely admired albeit absolute monarch who has been receiving medical treatment in Germany since July. But policymakers elsewhere in the world have no choice but to do just that. The 73-year-old Qaboos is […]

International Organizations Iran

SouthAsiaSource

Nov 7, 2014

Nobel Peace Prize: For Less Than Noble Reasons

By Mohan Guruswamy

This Year’s Award to a Pakistani and an Indian Reminds Us That the Peace Prize Often Serves a Broad Agenda It’s been a couple of weeks since the Norwegian choices for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 were announced. The little excitement this elicited in India and Pakistan has mostly died down. With good reason […]

India Pakistan
French Mistral, Tonnerre (L9014)

NATOSource

Nov 6, 2014

French-Built Mistral Ships For Russia Could End Up In Canadian Hands

By Christopher Harress, International Business Times

The Canadian military has emerged as a potential destination for the controversial French-built Mistral helicopter carrier ships, built for Russia and now at the center of an international row

France Russia