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

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at foreign ministers meeting, December 2, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 2, 2014

NATO Struggles to Muster ‘Spearhead Force’ to Counter Russia

By Stephen Fidler, Wall Street Journal

Promised Rapid-Reaction Force Proves Costly, Logistically Difficult for Europe.

NATO Russia

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

Top News: Egypt Prosecutor Appeals Mubarak Verdict, Cites Legal Flaws

By EgyptSource

Prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat has ordered an appeal against a court verdict that dropped charges of killing protesters during the 2011 uprising against ousted president Hosni Mubarak, and acquitted him of corruption charges.

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

Top News: US Downplays Safe-Zone Proposal As Deliberations With Turkey Continue

By MENASource

The United States on Monday played down the idea of creating a buffer zone along the Syria-Turkish border after a media report cited it as a possible concession to Turkey in return for use of bases to launch attacks on Islamic State militants in Syria.

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

Factbox: Everything You Need to Know About the Mubarak Verdict

By EgyptSource

On November 29, Cairo Criminal Court dropped Hosni Mubarak’s charges relating to the killing of protesters in January 2011. It also found him innocent of corruption and graft charges. Former interior minister Habib al-Adly, and Mubarak’s sons Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were also found innocent of charges they faced. Below is a complete breakdown of […]

North Africa

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

EconSource: Tunisia calls for expansion of economic ties with Iran

By EconSource

The head of the Tunisian Chamber of Commerce called for the expansion of mutual economic and trade cooperation with Iran. He added that Tunisia can act as a gateway for Iran to import and export commodities to and from Africa. An Iran-Tunisia Joint Trade Council would also give an opportunity for the two countries to […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 2, 2014

National Intelligence Council Chairman Calls for More Long-Term Intelligence Work

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Russia’s aggressive posture in its neighborhood is an “interesting inflection point in global politics,” much like the fall of the Soviet Union in December of 1991 and al Qaeda’s attack on the US on September 11, 2001, Gregory F. Treverton, chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, told the Atlantic Council. “The first time around […]

Intelligence National Security
Russian Fighter Jet in Near Miss with Norwegian F-16

NATOSource

Dec 2, 2014

Video of Russian MiG-31 Near-Miss With Norwegian F-16

By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland, Wall Street Journal

The Norwegian Armed Forces released a video of a Russian fighter jet flying uncomfortably close to a Norwegian F-16, highlighting potential collision risks when intercepting Russian aircraft in international airspace on behalf of NATO.

NATO Northern Europe

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

Libya’s Constitutional Crisis

By Naeem Al-Gheriany

On November 6, 2014, in an unexpected decision, and against a backdrop of continuing political and military polarization, the Constitutional Chamber of Libya’s Supreme Court struck down the 7th Amendment to the Constitutional Declaration, the current supreme law of Libya.

Libya
Ambassador Douglas Lute, Sept. 2013

NATOSource

Dec 1, 2014

NATO Squabbles Over Cost of Eastern Reinforcements

By James G. Neuger, Bloomberg News

NATO’s pledges to protect its eastern flank against Russia will run into financial reality tomorrow when foreign ministers from budget-stressed governments weigh how to share the burden.

NATO Security & Defense
Iraqi National Security Advisor Falih Al Fayyadh and Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow, Nov. 25, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 1, 2014

NATO Offers Resources to Iraq in Fight Against ISIS

By Sam Jones, Financial Times

Nato, the world’s largest military alliance, is preparing to add its weight to the international campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis, after discussions with senior Iraqi government officials in recent weeks.

Iraq NATO