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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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UkraineAlert

Jul 31, 2014

From Lugansk to Las Vegas: The Corrupt Empire of Oleksander Yefremov

By Irena Chalupa

How a Ukrainian Boss and His Political Machine Have Helped Russia’s Attack on Ukraine Oleksander Yefremov, a boyish-looking sixty-year-old, is one of eastern Ukraine’s most prominent politicians and businessmen. For over a decade, he has been the corrupt strongman of Lugansk, one of the two provinces where Russia’s government and military have been sponsoring the […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jul 31, 2014

Ukraine News Roundup | July 31

By Irena Chalupa

For Eastern Ukrainians, a Growing Doubt: Is Russia Manipulating Us? via Christian Science Monitor UK Lawmakers Urge Government to Lead Charge for NATO Changes via Defense News Timothy Ash: Putin’s Scorecard in Ukraine via Kyiv Post Closing a 25-Year Chapter with Russia via  Financial Times Spying on Russia is in Everyone’s Interests via Moscow Times Europe’s Ground Zero: Fairy Tales […]

Ukraine
Soldier with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Feb. 25, 2014

NATOSource

Jul 31, 2014

British Defense Committee Finds NATO ‘Poorly Prepared’ to Defend Members From Russian Threat

By House of Commons Defense Committee

Our conclusion is that NATO is currently not well-prepared for a Russian threat against a NATO Member State.

NATO Russia

MENASource

Jul 31, 2014

Hearing Reveals US State Department has not Adapted to New Egypt Realities

By Elissa Miller

Civil society organizations and nongovernmental organization (NGOs) in Egypt are in a crisis. In late June, the Ministry of Solidarity presented a restrictive new NGO draft law that would severely restrict the formation, activities, and funding of NGOs. Egypt’s repressive climate for NGOs, however, is not new. In December 2011, the Egyptian authorities, objecting to […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jul 31, 2014

Top News: Israeli Negotiators Land in Cairo for Gaza Talks

By EgyptSource

An Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss with Egyptian officials a possible ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, airport officials said.

MENASource

Jul 31, 2014

Poverty and Conflict in the Middle East

By Matthew Timmerman

From its outset, the self-immolation of a crestfallen Tunisian vegetable vendor, the Arab Spring was largely about poverty. Mohamed Bouazizi’s final words before igniting himself and the region were, “How do you expect me to make a living?”

Iraq Middle East

MENASource

Jul 31, 2014

EconSource: Egypt on Mission to Quench $21 Billion Energy Thirst

By EconSource

Follow the latest in economic news and developments about the Arab transition countries. 

New Atlanticist

Jul 31, 2014

Europe’s New Sanctions: a ‘Game Changer’ in Pressing Kremlin on Ukraine, Burwell Says

By James Rupert

EU’s Economic Ties to Russia Slow its Pace, But New Steps Show Unity With US This week’s European sanctions on Russia are “a game-changer” in applying the European Union’s first restrictions on a relatively broad sector of trade, says the Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell. While the sanctions are shaped to avoid directly damaging key European […]

Russia Ukraine

MENASource

Jul 30, 2014

Top News: Militants Overrun Benghazi Special Forces Base as Chaos Deepens

By MENASource

Militant fighters overran a Saiqa special forces base in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday, after another day of intensive missile strikes by Ansar al-Sharia and its allies that killed at least thirty people.

European flags in Brussels

NATOSource

Jul 30, 2014

Paying Ransoms, Europe Bankrolls Qaeda Terror

By Rukmini Callimachi, New York Times

Kidnapping Europeans for ransom has become a global business for Al Qaeda, bankrolling its operations across the globe.

Europe & Eurasia Sahel