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.
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New Atlanticist

Oct 15, 2019

Trump vs Erdoğan: It’s hard to bluff when your cards are on the table

By Brian O’Toole

It is hard to take seriously threats by the US government to ruin the Turkish economy when Trump himself gave this green light in the first place. Under such circumstances, sanctions have almost no chance of succeeding in putting this genie back in the bottle.

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion Syria

New Atlanticist

Oct 15, 2019

The true costs of withdrawing forces from Syria

By C. Anthony Pfaff

Getting the United States out of “endless wars” is an admirable goal. But military forces, trust among our partners, and standing firm in the face of adversaries play critical roles in reaching that goal. Getting those functions back in balance will be necessary in moving forward.

Conflict Syria

New Atlanticist

Oct 15, 2019

A final Brexit countdown?

By John M. Roberts

There’s a Brexit countdown in progress, but whether it’s counted in hours in order to end at midnight on October 16 or in days to end at midnight on Halloween is anybody’s guess.

European Union United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Oct 15, 2019

How can the United States pick up the pieces of its Syria policy?

By David A. Wemer

Atlantic Council experts detail how Washington can manage the situation in Syria and prevent the US-Turkish relationship from spiraling out of control.

Conflict Syria

IranSource

Oct 15, 2019

Iranian women fans rejoice at stadium access

By Tahereh Hadian-Jazy

A combination of domestic and international pressure resulted in the decision by the Iranian government to finally allow women to attend soccer matches at Iranian stadiums.

Iran Middle East

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Oct 11, 2019

Seven takeaways from Zelenskyy’s marathon press conference (and one surprise) 

By Iryna Matviyishyn

At the press conference, Zelenskyy said he was ready to “sit down and talk” with Kolomoisky.

Civil Society Conflict

New Atlanticist

Oct 11, 2019

US-China trade war reaches a pause, but still a long way to resolution

By David A. Wemer

While the current trade war pause is good news for many concerned about a damaging escalation in tensions between two of the world’s most important economies, there remains a long road ahead before either Beijing or Washington is ready to fully commit to trade peace.

China Trade and tariffs

UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2019

Ukraine’s $50 billion challenge

By Andy Hunder

The key concerns from business are not new. The rule of law, fair justice, macroeconomic stability, a predictable tax policy, secure investment, and property rights, including intellectual property rights, top their lists.

Fiscal and Structural Reform International Financial Institutions

AfricaSource

Oct 11, 2019

Ahead of elections, Mozambique grapples with violent insurgency

By James Rogers

Whichever way the government proceeds, it seems unlikely that a long-term solution to the ASWJ insurgency will be feasible without a concerted effort to simultaneously address the poverty and economic conditions underlying the insurgency in the first place.

Africa Conflict

MENASource

Oct 10, 2019

Iraqi IDPs amid US-Iranian tensions

By Leah Hickert

As Iraq protests in the past week escalated and settled down, real grievances issued by Iraqi citizens—related to crumbling infrastructure, high unemployment, and lack of services—need to be resolved by the government to destabilize the situation. However, there are additional issues concerning the internally displaced people (IDPs) in Iraq who may lack the agency or […]

Economy & Business Human Rights