Atlantic Council blogs

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.
View all
of our blogs
Subscribe to our
newsletters

Latest from across our blogs

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2014

Russia’s Unmarked Tanks in Ukraine: Putin is Probing the West’s Resolve

By New Atlanticist

Atlantic Council’s John Herbst: US, European Response Will Be Critical On June 12, unmarked tanks and another armored vehicle — bearing no unit markings or other identification, beyond a Russian flag — drove from Russia into southeastern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian government and independent news reports. John Herbst, the director of the Atlantic Council’s […]

Russia Ukraine

Trade in Action

Jun 13, 2014

Turning the Tides: The Role of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in TTIP

By Cale Rogoyski

The key to rallying support for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) among skeptical politicians and voters in the United States and the European Union may be to highlight the growing evidence showing that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) stand to gain greatly from a comprehensive TTIP agreement. While many skeptics characterize TTIP as […]

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2014

A Ukrainian Filmmaker in Prison for Opposing Russia’s Occupation of Crimea

By Irene Chalupa

Oleg Sentsov Waved Ukrainian Flags, Now is in Moscow’s Former KGB Prison Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, a native of Crimea, won wide acclaim a couple of years back with a sensitive docu-drama about a teenager caught between his success in the virtual world of video games and his struggle in the real world around […]

Russia Ukraine

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

Syrian Rebels Unite to Fight Off an ISIS Eastward Push

By Karen Leigh

As fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) prepared to march towards Baghdad on Friday, the often fragmented forces of Syria’s opposition formed a coalition to ward off the group’s anticipated expansion into the east.

Iraq Syria
(At the time) Ambassador Susan Rice, October 12, 2012

NATOSource

Jun 13, 2014

US Calls for Europe to ‘Take Defense Spending Seriously’

By Susan Rice, White House

Collective action has long been the hallmark of effective American leadership. The United Nations, NATO and our Asian alliances were all built on the foundation of American strength and American values.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

Syria: The Impact of ISIS In Iraq

By Frederic C. Hof

As the Obama administration considers a significant change of policy direction for Syria, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)—one of the more vicious of al-Qaeda franchises—runs amok in Iraq, cashing in on the profound rot personified by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It seems that nothing in the Middle East stands still long […]

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

Kurds Poised to Benefit From Baghdad’s Failures

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Despite the incredible gains that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has made in Iraq in the past few days, the Kurdish government has lent its security forces to aid in pushing the paramilitary group out of the north. But with the abandonment of Iraqi army posts, the Kurdish authority may now have […]

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

After Mosul?

By Ramzy Mardini

The United States pulled its remaining troops out from Iraq two and a half years ago, ending a military occupation that lasted almost a decade. The civil war in Syria has become the strategic driver shaping the security dynamics across the Levant, and has breathed new life into militancy in Iraq, rejuvenating the confidence, resources, […]

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

Top News: Sisi Calls for Saving on Fuel Costs by Taking Part in Cycling Marathon

By EgyptSource

During a cycling marathon in Egypt on Friday, newly elected president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi called on Egyptians to walk more to save the country money on fuel. 

Russia’s prominent business weekly, Ekspert, leads its edition this week with the declaration that "Donbas is the Heart of Russia." The article, by its chief editor, Valeriy Fadeyev, picks up the theme from a 1920s Soviet campaign that included the poster at right, which shows industrial goods from Donbas being pumped throughout the Soviet economy. (www.ekspert.com; CC License)

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2014

DIRECT TRANSLATION: ‘Donbas, the Heart of Russia’

By Irena Chalupa

A Commentator Close to Putin Writes: Unitary Ukraine is Finished A prominent Russian business magazine, Ekspert, publishes a lead article this week by two highly placed Russian policy thinkers writing about Ukraine’s southeastern provinces and proclaiming, “We won’t abandon them.” That emotional headline might represent more than just another piece of nationalist opinion-making, for the […]

Russia Ukraine