Atlantic Council blogs

NATO Faces Serious Shortcomings in Command Revamp

By Matthias Gebauer, Konstantin von Hammerstein, Peter Müller, and Christoph Schult, Spiegel

Since the end of June, a report marked “NATO SECRET” has been circulating in headquarters in Brussels that unsparingly lists the alliance’s weaknesses.

The Xi Dynasty?

China’s president re-elected with no clear successor in sight Xi Jinping’s re-election to a second five-year term as China’s president, without a clear successor, cements his grip on the Asian nation and raises questions about the future of economic, political, and social reforms in the country, according to Atlantic Council analysts.   Xi was re-elected […]

Why Intelligence Matters

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Michael Morell was with George W. Bush the day terrorists rammed hijacked commercial airliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Almost ten years later, Morell was in the White House Situation Room with Barack Obama when US Special Operations forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama […]

Assad and Legitimacy

By Frederic C. Hof

During the Obama administration, one of the many public throw-away lines designed to paper-over an adamant refusal to protect civilians from a homicidal regime was that the President of Syria—Bashar al-Assad—“lacked all legitimacy.” Russia, on the other hand characterized Assad as the paragon of legitimacy: as the chief of a state represented in the United […]

European Union Must Defuse Standoff Between Madrid and Catalonia

By George Tsereteli

The time has come for the European Union (EU) to push for a peaceful resolution to the standoff between Madrid and the Catalan separatists. It is highly unlikely that that the separatists will passively acquiesce to the central government’s move to curb Catalan autonomy under Article 155—triggered by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s cabinet on […]

The Middle East after decertification: A French perspective

By Michel Duclos

France played a significant role in the negotiations that led to the deal with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The French wanted a “robust deal,” and they were concerned by the Obama administration’s tendency to turn a blind eye to Iran’s regional policy with the aim of maximizing the chances […]

Mind the Gap: Intelligence-Sharing Challenges Proved Deadly for US Troops in Niger

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The death of four US servicemen in a militant ambush in Niger on October 4 has exposed the unsatisfactory intelligence-sharing relationship that exists between Washington and Niamey. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rudy Atallah, a nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, described this relationship as “not robust.” The consequences have been deadly. […]

Why Ukraine’s Next Revolution Won’t Be on the Streets

By Diane Francis

Deposed President Viktor Yanukovych and the Kremlin continue to create mayhem inside Ukraine but have lost the hearts and minds of most Ukrainians, said security expert Andriy Levus. “Confiscation of assets in the Donbas finances the military war for Yanukovych and Russia, and it’s a cover for smuggling, but only for another year or so,” […]

Escalation Threatens South Damascus “De-Escalation” Deal

By Tom Rollins

The south Damascus suburbs are not Syria’s most pressing theatre of war. Syrian pro-government forces are busy routing out Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) jihadists in Deir Ezzor, and Islamist opposition from Eastern Ghouta in Damascus. Meanwhile, Russia and the international community are busy trying to monopolize Syria’s future.