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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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UkraineAlert

Sep 24, 2015

Russia Looking for an Exit?

By James J. Coyle

As Russia increases its support for beleaguered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rebels in eastern Ukraine have observed a ceasefire since September 1. The second Minsk ceasefire agreement, signed in February, had been repeatedly violated. But things have changed. Some separatist leaders have left the area, returning to posh jobs in Moscow. Former Donetsk Prime Minister […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Sep 24, 2015

Wanted: A NATO Strategy

By Alejandro Alvarez

New security challenges in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and cyberspace have sent the world’s most important military alliance scrambling against obsolescence.  A lot has changed since the North Atlantic Treaty’s inception in 1949. The big question is whether a Cold War-era institution can do anything to remain effective and coherent in the face of […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 24, 2015

A Failed European Response to Migrant Crisis Will Hurt Transatlantic Ties, says Norwegian Defense Minister

By Ashish Kumar Sen

A failure to deal appropriately with the migrant crisis will cause rifts within Europe that will have serious implications for transatlantic unity, Norway’s Defense Minister, Ine Eriksen Søreide, said at the Atlantic Council on September 24. “How we handle the ongoing refugee crisis will be a test for Europe,” Søreide said while describing the magnitude […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO

MENASource

Sep 24, 2015

Top News: ISIS Claim Suicide Bombing in Sana’a Mosque

By MENASource

Yemen’s branch of the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) claimed responsibility on Thursday for a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Yemen’s capital Sana’a that killed at least twenty-nine people and wounded at least thirty-six.

MENASource

Sep 24, 2015

Top News: No politics, No Campaigning in Eid Sermons, Warns Endowments Ministry

By EgyptSource

The Endowments Ministry warned preachers against campaigning for the upcoming elections in their Eid Al-Adha sermons, as aspiring parliamentary candidates gear up for the first round of voting at the end of October.

MENASource

Sep 24, 2015

EconSource: Soaring Bad Debts Sound Alarm in Turkey

By EconSource

The deterioration of Turkey’s economy is accelerating, as political uncertainty, early elections, and a conflict with Kurdish militants take a toll on the economy.

MENASource

Sep 24, 2015

PKK-Turkey Conflict Could Hurt Kurdish Fight Against ISIS in Syria

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) operating in Syria and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq have become indirect partners of the Western anti-Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) coalition. In July 2015, however, the Turkish Armed Forces launched airstrikes against PKK targets following an attack that killed two policemen.

Syria Turkey
9P78-1 TEL for Iskander-M missile system, April 22, 2015

NATOSource

Sep 23, 2015

Kremlin: Russia Will Take Countermeasures if US Places New Nuclear Weapons in Germany

By AP, International Business Times, and Reuters

From AP:  The Kremlin says Russia will take countermeasures if the U.S. places new nuclear weapons at a base in Germany.

Germany NATO

MENASource

Sep 23, 2015

Top News: EU Urges Libya Parties to Grasp Peace Deal

By MENASource

The European Union is urging Libya’s warring factions to grasp the opportunity of a new peace deal and is promising backing once a unity government is formed.

MENASource

Sep 23, 2015

Top News: Egypt Pardons 100, Including Al Jazeera Journalists, Activists Sanaa Seif and Yara Sallam

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced on Wednesday the pardoning of 100 prisoners, including Al Jazeera’s television journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, and prominent activists, Sanaa Seif and Yara Sallam, who were charged with violating the protest law.