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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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MENASource

Jan 25, 2017

Why Libya’s Stability Matters to the Region

By Elissa Miller

As it enters its sixth year, the crisis in Libya shows no signs of abating. The UN-backed unity government seems to be teetering on the edge of collapse, and clashes threaten to escalate between eastern and western forces. Withdrawal from Libya could have negative consequences for western interests, and the United States—under the Trump administration—could […]

Libya North Africa

SyriaSource

Jan 25, 2017

A Shared Shame: How Assad and His Apologists Manipulated Syria’s Struggle and Story—and Why That Matters

By Anthony Elghossain

Ever since it kicked off this macabre dance by shooting a bunch of teenagers in 2011, the Assad regime has masterfully manipulated Syria’s struggle—and story. Not only has it escalated, militarized, and radicalized the struggle, from a peaceful contest for control that it never could have survived to a war that it has survived for […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2017

Trump to Meet British Prime Minister May. Here’s What You Should Know.

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Interview with Sir Peter Westmacott, distinguished ambassadorial fellow at the Atlantic Council US President Donald Trump will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May—his first meeting with a head of state or government since his inauguration on January 20—at the White House on January 27. Sir Peter Westmacott, distinguished ambassadorial fellow at the Atlantic Council who […]

European Union International Organizations

MENASource

Jan 25, 2017

Where Egypt Stands Six Years After January 25

By H.A. Hellyer

As Egypt marks the sixth anniversary of the revolutionary uprising of 2011, it is tempting in many quarters to view the country as having essentially reverted back to what the case was on January 25, 2010. In other words, the last six years never happened, and the political dispensation that underpins the current administration is […]

North Africa

IranSource

Jan 25, 2017

The U.S. is Pushing Iran Toward China

By Ivy Yang

On December 1, 2016, Congress passed a 10-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act. Tehran vowed to retaliate, and said it considered the extension a violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed with six major powers in 2015 to restrict the development of Iran’s nuclear capability in exchange for global sanctions relief.

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2017

Germany’s ‘Marshall Plan’ for Africa

By J. Peter Pham

Explicitly invoking the US aid initiative that rebuilt Western Europe’s devastated infrastructure and weakened economies after World War II as a bulwark against Communist expansionism, the German government unveiled its ambitious framework for a “Marshall Plan with Africa” (Eckpunkte für einen Marshallplan mit Afrika) on January 18 with the twin objectives of increasing trade and […]

SyriaSource

Jan 23, 2017

Armed Opposition Groups in Syria Face Obstacles to Unity

By Hosam al-Jablawi

There has been renewed talk about combatant groups in the north of Syria joining together, particularly after opposition groups lost Aleppo—the largest city in northern Syria—to Assad’s regime. Opposition groups first entered the city in 2012, and its recent loss led to a decline in their popularity. Demonstrations against opposition groups demanded that they unite […]

Syria
Trump TPP

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2017

The United States Quits TPP: A Gift for China

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Donald Trump’s decision to take the United States out of a free-trade agreement with eleven other Pacific Rim nations is a “gift” for China because it undermines a deal through which the United States had sought to write the rules of the road for global trade, according to two Atlantic Council analysts. “Donald […]

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2017

Beat Back Russia and Stand with Ukraine, Biden Urges at Davos

By Diane Francis

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s last official speech was delivered January 18 in Davos at the World Economic Forum. It was a tour de force summoning leaders to protect the “liberal international order” against China, Iran, Russia, and others bent on destroying it. “This movement is principally led by Russia, working with every tool to […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 23, 2017

American-Born Doctor Takes on Ukraine’s Health Care System

By Melinda Haring

Ulana Suprun is a woman on a mission. The 53-year-old radiologist from New York who was appointed Ukraine’s Acting Minister of Health in July is determined to shake up Ukraine’s sclerotic health care system. “The changes that we are making in Ukraine’s health care sector are breaking the old rules and establishing new standards,” Suprun […]

Ukraine