Atlantic Council blogs

Syria: Geneva and the Alternative to the Assad Regime

By Frederic C. Hof

If the Geneva peace conference scheduled for January 22, 2014 features a credible proposal by the Syrian opposition for a transitional governmental alternative to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the conference itself can contribute to the end of corruptly brutal clan rule in Syria.

NATO Extends Rasmussen’s Tenure As Secretary General

By NATO

On 11 December, the North Atlantic Council decided to extend the Secretary General’s tenure of office to enable him to prepare and preside the NATO Summit which will take place in South Wales on 4-5 September 2014.

Top News: Second Judging Panel Withdraws from Brotherhood Trial

By EgyptSource

A second panel of judges has withdrawn from the trial of Muslim Brotherhood leaders accused of inciting the killing of protesters. The defendants refused to recognize the court, dubbed it “void” and “illegitimate,” and chanted “down with the military rule.” 

Syria: Kerry’s Chance for a Pivot to Humanitarian Access at Geneva

By Matthew Hall

January 22, the latest in a long string of dates penciled-in for Geneva II, is six weeks from today. Hotel rooms are being booked in Montreux, Russian and Iranian ministers are meeting to plot their game plan, and the opposition Syrian National Council has agreed—under great duress and with several preconditions—to attend the peace talks.

Newtonian Physics and International Politics

By Harlan Ullman

One of Newton’s famous laws— that every action has an opposite and equal reaction— is often mirrored in international politics. A key question is how to deal with these opposite reactions. Just when breakthroughs in resolving the most pressing international crises appeared possible if not imminent, the roof fell in.

Ukraine on the Edge

By Sabine Freizer

Need for Dialogue on Institutional Reform Too many of the statements being made by foreign officials on the political crisis growing in Ukraine over the past three weeks have described it as a clash between pro-Western values and Russian imperialism. But talking about values will not provide a solution to the dispute. Instead all parties […]

Yemen’s Economy Needs Action Now

By Danya Greenfield & Stefanie A. Hausheer

On the heels of a major attack against Yemen’s defense ministry last Thursday, it is easy to focus on the dire security situation and the connection between the current political stalemate in the National Dialogue with the uptick in violence and attacks on government officials and institutions.

Getting to Fusion – A conversation with Strategists

By Jeff Lightfoot

Emerging technologies are empowering both states and non-state actors in the second decade of the 21st century. Yet these new capabilities exist in – and challenge – an interstate system that is still largely defined by international law and a Westphaelian heritage. If the world is to achieve the fusion scenario outlined in the Global Trends […]

Key Questions on Egypt’s Upcoming Constitutional Referendum

As Egypt prepares to go to a constitutional referendum in January, details have begun to emerge on party positions on the constitution, security measures for the referendum, and who will be monitoring in Egypt’s polling stations. With the final draft of the constitution submitted to interim president Adly Mansour, he has 30 days to call […]

Opportunities Emerging from Biotech and ICT

By Peter Engelke

Ramez Naam, author of The Infinite Resource, opened the Strategic Foresight Forum’s Bio-ICT session by pointing to the many opportunities emerging from biotech and ICT. We are much better now at encoding, printing, and editing genomes now than we were even a decade ago. This leads to big opportunities. First, we can apply biotech to […]