Atlantic Council blogs

New Railroad Agreement a National Security Milestone for Baltic Allies, Poland, EU, and NATO

By Olevs Nikers, Jamestown Foundation

Earlier this month (October 2016), the governments of the Baltic States and Poland finally reached all the necessary political, financial and technical agreements to implement one of the most ambitious projects inside the European Union—linking Finland, the Baltic States and Poland with the unified Trans-European Transport Network

With Pipeline, Russia Sustains Dominance of Turkish Gas Market

By John M. Roberts

Russia’s decision to go ahead with Turkish Stream, an offshore pipeline that will bring Russian gas to Turkey, cements its dominance of the Turkish gas market. In political terms, the revival of Turkish Stream—or TurkStream as Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy company, now terms the project—epitomizes the entente developing between Moscow and Ankara, a relationship that […]

Kremlin Conducts Large Scale Nuclear-Bomb Survival Drills for 40 Million Russians

By Thomas Grove, Wall Street Journal

Russian authorities have stepped up nuclear-war survival measures amid a showdown with Washington, dusting off Soviet-era civil-defense plans and upgrading bomb shelters in the biggest cities.

What Can the West Do to Get Putin’s Attention?

By Christopher A. Hartwell and Andreas Umland

The Case for Smarter Sanctions on Russia What should be done about an increasingly aggressive Russia? The past few weeks have brought more evidence of Moscow’s moves away from international norms and law. From continued denials of complicity in the MH17 tragedy and the bombing of a humanitarian convoy in Syria, to Russian President Vladimir […]

Old Ukraine Launches Campaign against Ukraine’s Most Influential Woman and Top Banker

By Anders Åslund

An attempt is underway in the Ukrainian parliament to deprive the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) of its independence and oust its governor, Valeriya Hontareva. This would be a major reversal of Ukraine’s economic reforms and must be stopped. In the last two years, Ukraine has carried out its most fundamental economic reforms since its […]

Going Green: Devising a Clean Energy Strategy for Developing Countries

Developing countries need a concrete strategy, backed by political will, that is focused on using clean energy for growth, according to a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.  As the date on which the Paris climate agreement goes into effect draws near and participating countries begin to take steps toward implementing […]

The Presidential Debates: Unanswered Questions

By Alex Ward and Alexandra Di Cocco

The presidential debate on October 19 was the final one between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump before election day. Historically, the third debate is heavily focused on foreign policy, while the first two are dominated by domestic issues. Other than a few mentions of China, the military campaign to take Mosul back from the Islamic […]

Hacking the Vote

In an election season marred by cyberattacks—an activity the White House has blamed on Russia—the security of voting machines is a prominent concern for voters.  Such concerns could undermine voters’ faith in the system as well as the legitimacy of the result of the presidential election, the Atlantic Council’s Daniel Chiu said in Washington on […]

NATO Selects German Diplomat as New Chief of Intelligence

By Wall Street Journal, German Embassy in Prague, and Hamburger Abendblatt

From Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has appointed its first intelligence chief, a post designed to help the alliance improve information sharing and counterterrorism coordination….

There They Go Again: International Media Enables Russian Aggression in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

When does a Russian warlord become a “pro-Russian separatist?” Newsrooms around the world may want to ask themselves this question following Russian militant leader Arsen Pavlov’s assassination in Donetsk in mid-October. In the wake of the killing, one news report after another ran with headlines referring to Pavlov as a pro-Russian separatist leader, creating the impression […]