Atlantic Council blogs

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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FutureSource

Aug 4, 2016

Boulder, Colorado: Innovation in a Small Town and a Big State

By Peter Engelke and Alex Paul

In mid-July, the Strategic Foresight Initiative (SFI) conducted a research trip to Colorado, visiting Boulder, Denver, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden. The trip was part of the Future of American Technological Leadership project with Qualcomm, which seeks to investigate American innovation in the technology sector. The project will culminate in a […]

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, July 29, 2016 (photo: Office of the President of Turkey)

NATOSource

Aug 4, 2016

Turkey’s New Anti-Americanism

By Editorial Board of the New York Times

Shaken by a failed coup attempt, Turkey’s government and many of its citizens are desperate for someone to blame.

NATO Security & Defense

MENASource

Aug 4, 2016

US Airstrikes in Libya and their Aftermath

By Karim Mezran and Elissa Miller

Following a formal request from the internationally recognized Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), the United States air force conducted strikes against militants of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) in the city of Sirte on August 1. It is possible that military commanders of militias from Misrata—directly involved in the fight to liberate […]

Libya

MENASource

Aug 4, 2016

Jordan Experiment Spurs Jobs for Refugees

By Bethan Staton

There is little beyond some roads, power lines and a handful of sand-blown warehouses to suggest that this patch of barren land in Jordan is the center of one of the most important economic experiments in the world today. Most of the 8 square miles (21 sq km) of the King Hussein Bin Talal Development […]

Syria
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan May 28, 2010

NATOSource

Aug 3, 2016

Erdogan Incites Anger Against US and NATO Allies Over Coup Response

By Reuters and AP

From Tulay Karadeniz and Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters:  President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Western countries on Friday [July 29]  for failing to show solidarity with Turkey over the recent failed coup,

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Aug 3, 2016

TPP Ratification Deemed as Inflection Point for US Role in Southeast Asia

By Mitch Hulse

A failure to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a proposed free trade agreement between twelve countries—by the United States Congress would seriously weaken both US economic and security interests in Southeast Asia, according to the Atlantic Council’s Robert Manning. “A failure to ratify TPP would mark an inflection point for the US role in Asia,” said […]

China Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2016

Saakashvili in Odesa: When Making Waves is Not Enough

By Kateryna Smagliy

A year after my Atlantic Council blog post on Mikheil Saakashvili’s first fifty days as Odesa oblast governor, it’s time to reexamine his record. The results are mixed: his brisk and spectacular first wins soon hit the skids. The Presidential Administration’s promised support evaporated in late 2015 and Saakashvili’s many initiatives were skillfully torpedoed at […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2016

Trump’s Dangerous Bromance with Putin Is a National Security Threat

By Stephen Blank

Russia’s recent hacking attacks on the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the party’s fundraising committee for candidates for the US House of Representatives reflect Moscow’s view that it is in a state of political war with the United States, if not the West. Efforts to take down Western political institutions are hardly a […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Aug 3, 2016

How the International Media Enables Russian Aggression in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

If anyone had attempted to report on “German-backed forces” in Nazi-occupied France or “pro-Soviet forces” during the Prague Spring, they would have been dismissed as either hopelessly misinformed or deeply disingenuous. While local collaborators and convenient euphemisms were plentiful in both instances, there was never any doubt as to who was really in control. This […]

Russia Ukraine

SyriaSource

Aug 3, 2016

How Syrians View Nusra’s Split from al-Qaeda

By Haid Haid

On July 28, the Nusra Front, one of the most powerful jihadist groups in Syria, announced its split from al-Qaeda and the formation of a new group named Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Front for the Conquest of the Levant). In a short video, the group stated that it aims to establish God’s religion and Sharia law […]

Syria