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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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AfricaSource

Feb 15, 2018

Ethiopia: In the eye of the storm

By Bronwyn Bruton

After overseeing the release on February 13 and 14 of thousands of political challengers to the regime, Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn has resigned amid continuing protests that potentially threaten the survival of the government. (For detailed analysis of those events, read this: https://buff.ly/2GeB15y ) Though in the midst of crisis, Ethiopia is enjoying a moment […]

Africa East Africa

New Atlanticist

Feb 15, 2018

Timeline: How Libya’s Revolution Came Undone

By Erin A. Neale

An unusual protest erupted in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi on February 15, 2011. Enraged by the arrest of a human rights activist, protestors clashed with police and supporters of Libya’s longtime ruler, Moammar Gadhafi, who responded with brute force. Two days later, activists called for a “day of rage.” The protests spread like wildfire […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

Feb 15, 2018

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Steps Down

By Bronwyn Bruton

On February 15, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned following months of sustained protests and pressure from the country’s aggrieved and marginalized ethnic groups. The country’s ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), now faces a crisis of leadership as it determines Ethiopia’s next prime minister. This author predicted the imminent ouster of […]

Ethiopia

UkraineAlert

Feb 15, 2018

We’re All In! Ukraine Moving Forward on Women’s Participation

By Lauren Van Metre

Women’s rights have made major strides in Ukraine since 2014. In particular, elevating the coordination of the government’s gender equality policies to the office of the Vice Prime Minister for EU and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, has led to real breakthroughs.

Ukraine

AfricaSource

Feb 14, 2018

Ethiopia: End game?

By Bronwyn Bruton

Update: On February 15, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned following months of sustained protests and pressure from the country’s aggrieved and marginalized ethnic groups. The country’s ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), now faces a crisis of leadership as it determines Ethiopia’s next prime minister. This author predicted the imminent ouster […]

Africa East Africa

New Atlanticist

Feb 14, 2018

The United States and Turkey: NATO Allies at an Impasse

By Rachel Ansley

The US military continues to support a Kurdish militia in Syria that Turkey considers a terrorist organization, and Ankara has had enough. Now, as the Turkish military threatens to advance on Manbij, a town in northeastern Syria held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that includes the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Ankara is “going […]

Turkey United States and Canada

SyriaSource

Feb 14, 2018

What Turkey’s Afrin Operation Says about Options for the United States

By Aaron Stein

The recent downturn in US-Turkish relations following the Turkish military’s cross-border military operation in Kurdish-held Afrin, dubbed Operation Olive Branch, should prompt a re-evaluation of American interests in Syria. Afrin is an enclave under the control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its militia, the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG). The PYD is the Syrian […]

Turkey

MENASource

Feb 14, 2018

Russia: Is Syria’s fate Libya’s future?

By Erin A. Neale

On February 17th, Libyans will celebrate the anniversary of a revolt that ultimately toppled and killed Muammar Qaddafi, ending his forty-two-year oppressive rule. This anniversary and others in the region are regrettable reminders of how the expectations in the immediate aftermath of the Arab Spring compare to the reality on the ground seven years later. […]

Libya Russia

AfricaSource

Feb 14, 2018

The post Zuma economic bump will be brief

By Aubrey Hruby

Since Jacob Zuma took office in May 2009, South Africa’s economy has been a story of low-to-no growth, flagrant corruption, and extreme inequality. Indeed, his erratic policies have twice spiraled the economy into recession (in 2009 and 2017), resulting in significant slashes to the country’s credit rating and an overall downgrade of the country’s brand. […]

Africa Corruption

UkraineAlert

Feb 14, 2018

Forget East-West and Language Divide. Politicians May Exploit New Wedge Issues in Ukraine’s Elections

By Ruslan Minich

Ukraine has decisively moved toward the West. Previously pulled between East and West, Ukrainians are now more united on key issues that had previously rankled the country for decades. More Ukrainians want educational instruction in Ukrainian, greater numbers prefer EU and NATO membership, and support for democracy far outstrips support for a strongman. At the […]

Russia Ukraine