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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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IranSource

Sep 19, 2018

Khamenei Reversal on FATF Suggests US-Iran Talks Possible Under Trump

By Shahir Shahidsaless

President Donald Trump’s policy towards Iran is imposing “maximum pressure” purportedly aimed at bringing Iranians back to the negotiating table. Trump demands renegotiating the Iran nuclear deal which, according to him, has “terrible flaws.” He also wants restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program and a change in the Iran’s aggressive policies in the region. Trump […]

Iran

IranSource

Sep 19, 2018

Iran’s Alliance With Russia in Syria: Marriage of Convenience or Strategic Partnership?

By Sina Azodi and Arman Mahmoudian

Russia’s alliance with Iran to buttress embattled Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is approaching a critical phase, as pro-government forces consider how to retake Idlib province, the last major stronghold of Syrian rebels. While this alliance has successfully shifted the balance of power in favor of the Syrian government, it will likely not lead to a […]

Iran Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 18, 2018

President Bush backs Macedonia in NATO, urges participation in historic referendum

By Damon Wilson

This may be a now-or-never moment for Macedonia. Its failure to gain accession to NATO in 2008 ushered in a decade of stagnation and political crisis, which the country is poised to overcome.

NATO The Balkans

New Atlanticist

Sep 18, 2018

Rick Perry to Europe: Energy security tantamount to national security

By David A. Wemer

Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas “is truly a cause for concern,” Perry said in remarks at the closing session of the Three Seas Initiative’s Business Forum in Bucharest on September 18.

Central Europe Geopolitics & Energy Security

New Atlanticist

Sep 18, 2018

More shots fired in US-China trade war

By Ashish Kumar Sen

This is what a trade war looks like. On September 18, hours after US President Donald J. Trump announced his decision to impose 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, China struck back. Beijing retaliated immediately, announcing tariffs on an additional $60 billion in US imports. The new Chinese tariffs will target […]

China

UkraineAlert

Sep 18, 2018

The Geopolitical Divorce of the Century: Why Putin Cannot Afford to Let Ukraine Go

By Peter Dickinson

Next month, Europe’s leading budget airline will begin regular flights from Ukraine to a host of EU destinations. This is the latest milestone in a Ukrainian aviation boom that is seeing additional routes announced on a weekly basis and record passenger numbers at airports across the country. Each new flight serves to broaden Ukrainian horizons […]

Russia Ukraine

SyriaSource

Sep 18, 2018

From Syria with love, Senator McCain

By Jomana Qaddour and Suzanne Meriden

The Arab Spring forever altered the lives of Syrian-Americans. The community now refers to life before and after the start of the Syrian revolution.

Syria

IranSource

Sep 18, 2018

New Hardline Voices Rise in Iran’s Theocratic Center

By Rohollah Faghihi

On August 16, a number of young hardline clerics held an anti-government protest in Qom that highlighted differences among conservatives. The rally was supposed to be against “financial corruption” and “government mismanagement,” but the banners held by the attendees, which contained messages threatening moderate President Hassan Rouhani, turned the event into an even more controversial […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 17, 2018

Trump’s trade war unlikely to end soon

By David A. Wemer

“A deal with China before the midterms [in November] is extremely unlikely,” said Marie Kasperek, associate director at the Atlantic Council's Global Business and Economics Program.

China Trade and tariffs

IranSource

Sep 17, 2018

Iran’s Human Rights Situation and Trump Administration Policies

By Masoud Mostajabi

Iran’s human rights record continues to deteriorate but there are effective ways to advocate for improvement that include making demands as specific as possible and enlisting broad multilateral support. These were the main conclusions of a September 13 panel on the topic organized by the Atlantic Council’s Future of Iran Initiative. The system imposed in […]

Iran