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.
View all
of our blogs
Subscribe to our
newsletters

Latest from across our blogs

MENASource

Oct 23, 2015

Iraqi Kurdistan Needs a Referendum to Resolve its Political Crisis

By Nussaibah Younis

Iraqi Kurdistan is often hailed as a democratic, reliable, and effective partner for Western powers engaging with Iraq, but the political crisis that has overtaken the region this year has exposed just how fragile and problematic the Iraqi Kurdish political system really is.

Iraq

SyriaSource

Oct 23, 2015

Top News: Russia, US, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia seek solution to Syrian war in Vienna

By Syria Source

US Secretary of State John Kerry opened talks in Vienna on Friday with his Russian, Saudi, and Turkish counterparts aimed at reviving a moribund effort to end Syria’s civil war. Kerry began a day-long series of meetings in the Austrian capital by consulting with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, and Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun […]

Syria

MENASource

Oct 23, 2015

Top News: Russia, US, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia Seek Solution to Syrian War in Vienna

By MENASource

US Secretary of State John Kerry opened talks in Vienna on Friday with his Russian, Saudi, and Turkish counterparts aimed at reviving a moribund effort to end Syria’s civil war.

New Atlanticist

Oct 23, 2015

Taking on Cyber Threats Together

By Alejandro Alvarez

Increased cooperation between the public and private sector is essential to tackle growing issues with big data security, experts and analysts agreed at a symposium on big data and cybersecurity on Oct. 22 at the Atlantic Council. The all-day event, “Big Data, Bad Actors,” was jointly produced by the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on […]

Cybersecurity National Security

SyriaSource

Oct 23, 2015

FSA Forces Defy the Russians as Aircrafts Shell Civilians in Northern Syria

By Saleem al-Omar

Aircrafts hover over the Syrian opposition-controlled territories in northern Syria, easily visible to the naked eye. Witnesses to the missile strikes shout “God is great,” expressing their feelings of shock, fear, and anxiety.

Syria
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, Sept. 18, 2015

NATOSource

Oct 23, 2015

Top US Admiral Says NATO Should Rework Maritime Strategy

By Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal

Russia’s stepped up naval operations and other threats mean that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should reexamine maritime strategy, the new head of the U.S. Navy said Thursday.

NATO Russia

MENASource

Oct 23, 2015

Top News: Security Forces Arrest Senior Brotherhood Figure Hassan Malek

By EgyptSource

Egyptian security forces arrested Hassan Malek, a leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, security officials said.

MENASource

Oct 23, 2015

EconSource: Islamic State Earning Up to $50 Million a Month in Oil Sales

By EconSource

The Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) is raking in up to $50 million a month from selling crude oil from fields under its control in Iraq and Syria, according to Iraqi intelligence and US officials.

UkraineAlert

Oct 23, 2015

Imperial Gamble Doesn’t Pay Off: New Book Gets Ukraine’s History Wrong

By Alexei Sobchenko

In his new book, Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine and the New Cold War, the renowned American journalist Marvin Kalb touches on an issue outside his traditional area of expertise in domestic politics: the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and its implications for US-Russia relations.

Russia Ukraine

SyriaSource

Oct 22, 2015

Without Committed Air Support, Kurdish Forces cannot go on the Offensive against ISIS

By Mecid Mohamed

Despite repeated attempts to take the towns of al-Shaddadi and al-Hool, located fifty kilometers south and forty kilometers east of Hasaka, respectively, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been unable to advance towards either of these strategically important locations. Notwithstanding sustained air support from the international coalition to combat missions in and around Hasaka, […]

Syria