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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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Nordic flags

NATOSource

May 19, 2016

Obama and Nordic Leaders United Against Russian Aggression

By Mary Alice Salinas, Voice of America

President Barack Obama said Friday that an agreement between the U.S. and five Nordic nations to increase cooperation in the face of rising Russian aggression is an effort to ensure that “smaller nations are not bullied by larger nations.”

Northern Europe Russia
US Capital, Feb. 27, 2005

NATOSource

May 18, 2016

Twenty Members of Congress Cosponsor Bipartisan Resolution in Support of NATO

By John Hudson, Foreign Policy

In an implicit rebuke of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers have cosponsored a resolution in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 18, 2016

The Digital Single Market: Minding the Gap

By Victoria Langton

When it comes to the transatlantic digital marketplace, confluence is key, panelists agreed at the Atlantic Council on May 17. The United States and the European Union must work together in a “holistic manner” to promote innovation and protect privacy, said David O’Sullivan, the EU’s ambassador to the United States. “The way forward is interoperability,” […]

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2016

Memo to Ukraine and the West: Beware of Unrealistic Peace Plans. The Kremlin Will Outplay You Every Time

By Maksym Khylko

The latest Normandy Four meeting on May 11 in Berlin did not result in any major breakthroughs to end the stalemate in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine agreed to create demilitarized zones in separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine, enhance information-sharing, and halt military exercises along the contact line, but these steps will not break the current […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2016

Why Sweden Still Hasn’t Joined NATO

By Aaron Korewa

Sweden is one of Europe’s fiercest critics of Russia’s actions against Ukraine, but NATO membership is out for now US President Barack Obama just hosted the leaders of the countries that he wishes the rest of the world would emulate. During the Nordic-United States summit, the president had a chance to repeat to his Scandinavian […]

NATO Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

May 17, 2016

Failure to Quickly Ratify TPP Will Delay Trade Deal by ‘at Least a Decade’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Retired Adm. Michael Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sees lack of political capital A failure by Congress to speedily ratify a free-trade agreement between the United States and eleven other Pacific Rim nations will mean that it would take “at least a decade” to muster the political capital needed to push […]

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

MENASource

May 17, 2016

Yemen’s Peace Talks: A Progress Report

By Daniel R. DePetris

On May 11, Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri — the spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen for over a year — briefed reporters in Washington with a clear message: if the Houthis and supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh continue to insist on unreasonable demands at the negotiating […]

Saudi Arabia Yemen

New Atlanticist

May 17, 2016

Brazil’s Salvation: It’s Not the Economy, Stupid

By Andrea Murta

In his first speech as the new acting president of Brazil, Michel Temer said on May 12 that he would form a government of “national salvation.” It was an interesting choice of words: given the depth of the problems the country is facing right now Brazil clearly needs some sort of redemption. But if you […]

Brazil

New Atlanticist

May 16, 2016

Libya Gets a Helping Hand in Anti-ISIS Fight

By Ashish Kumar Sen

A decision by the United States and twenty other nations to provide weapons and training to help Libya’s UN-backed government fight the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) will put pressure on opponents—particularly a popular former General in Benghazi—to rally behind the new administration, said the Atlantic Council’s Karim Mezran. The communique of support, […]

Libya

AfricaSource

May 16, 2016

No ‘Silver Bullet’ for Kenya’s Security

By Kelsey Lilley and Julian Wyss

On May 6, the Kenyan government announced that it would cease hosting the estimated 600,000 refugees that currently call Kenya home. Days later, the government scaled back its initial threat, focusing instead on northeastern Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, the world’s largest and home to 350,000 Somali refugees and their progeny. Despite providing little evidence, the […]

Africa East Africa