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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

Dec 9, 2014

Is Russia’s Economic Pain Forcing Putin to Step Back on Ukraine?

By Elizabeth Pond

Russian President’s Softened Rhetoric and Talks with Ukraine Suggest a Change Are Western economic sanctions and falling oil prices starting to deter President Vladimir Putin from his larger ambitions in the Ukraine crisis? While Putin has vowed that Russia will overcome its economic isolation, ordinary Russians are feeling increased pain from an economy sliding into […]

Eastern Europe Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 9, 2014

After Moldova’s Election: Will Prime Minister Leanca Keep His Job?

Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Brian Mefford on Implications of the November 30 Vote As Moldova’s pro-European parties negotiate on the shape of a new governing coalition, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca could come under pressure to step aside for another leader, says Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Brian Mefford. That’s because Leanca’s Liberal Democrat party saw a […]

Eastern Europe Elections

New Atlanticist

Dec 9, 2014

A Graphic Breakdown of the Anti-ISIL Coalition

By Atlantic Council

The Atlantic Council’s Jorge Benitez and Gabriel Maletta take a closer look at which nations have joined the coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) – and what kind of support each country is providing.

NATO Security & Defense

MENASource

Dec 9, 2014

EconSource: Libya’s Budget Income Falls Sharply; Tobruk Struggles to Exert Influence Over Central Bank

By EconSource

Libya’s central bank said the country’s budget income fell to around $15 billion in the period from January to November from $45 billion a year before, blaming the situation on the 40 percent fall in oil prices since June and the state’s inability to collect customs duties. Expenditure in the period was $30 billion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dec. 1, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 8, 2014

NATO Seeks Weapons to Counter Russia’s Information War

By Sam Jones, Financial Times

A casual consumer of Russian media might conclude the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, one of the strongholds of the country’s pro-EU uprising, has been overrun by violent fascists.

NATO Russia

MENASource

Dec 8, 2014

What King Abdullah Gets Right and Wrong about Islamic Extremism

By Richard LeBaron

King Abdullah had a forthright conversation with Charlie Rose last Thursday about the need for the Islamic world to take ownership of the task of confronting extremism that has besieged the Middle East. His analysis and general approach to solutions was sensible, with a lot of detail hopefully to be filled in soon, in coordination […]

MENASource

Dec 8, 2014

Top News: US and Yemeni Raid on al-Qaeda Unable to Save Hostages

By MENASource

Thirteen people, including a woman, child, a local al-Qaeda leader, an American journalist, and a South African preacher, were killed Sunday when US-led forces fought Islamist militants in a failed rescue mission in Yemen.

New Atlanticist

Dec 8, 2014

Forget the South China Sea: Taiwan Could Be Asia’s Next Big Security Nightmare

By Robert A. Manning

Forget the South China Sea. The results of Taiwan’s local elections last week, still reverberating in Beijing, are more likely than not to propel Taiwan’s ascension to the status of No.1 security problem in Asia over the coming two to three years.

China
ISAF Commander General John F. Campbell, Dec. 8, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 8, 2014

US, NATO end Afghan combat command after thirteen years

By Lynne O’Donnell, AP

The U.S. and NATO closed their combat command in Afghanistan on Monday, more than 13 years after invading the country in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks to target al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. . . .

Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force

MENASource

Dec 8, 2014

Top News: Morsi’s Defense Pushes for Charges to be Dismissed after Alleged Leaks

By EgyptSource

The defense of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi requested Saturday in a court hearing over espionage charges that leaked recordings of top post-3 July leaders be investigated for their authenticity, in hope that charges might be dropped against the ousted president.