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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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MENASource

Jan 16, 2014

A Turning Point for Algeria?

By Karim Mezran and Ilana Hosios

Following President Abdulaziz Bouteflika’s recent re-hospitalization in France, panic and widespread rumors have again inundated Algeria’s media and its political institutions. With the stability of the country closely linked to presidential elections hypothetically slated for April 2014, the results will undoubtedly determine Algeria’s political power configuration for the next decade. Bouteflika’s ability to run in […]

MENASource

Jan 16, 2014

Misreading Egypt’s Referendum

By Maged Atiya

As soon as polls closed on January 15 2014, after two days of voting on amendments to the 2012 Egyptian constitution, it was clear that approval was guaranteed by an overwhelming margin well above 90 percent. The final margin was in fact close to 98 percent. This was the occasion for many commentators and scholars, […]

North Africa Political Reform

MENASource

Jan 16, 2014

Egypt’s Referendum: Calculated Choices Betting on a Better Future

By Hafsa Halawa

Over the past two days Egyptians have gone back to the polls to vote on their third constitutional referendum in as many years.  There has much written about the flaws of the document itself, similar in context and content to the criticism of the December 2012 constitution and the earlier March 2011 constitutional declaration, yet […]

North Africa Political Reform

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2014

The Trouble with China

By Nicholas Burns

It’s the Responsibility of the US to Prevent War Over East China Sea Islands As the White House struggles to cope with a burning Middle East, another vital challenge is arising on the far horizon — China is flexing its muscles with real consequences for America’s future in Asia. In the East China Sea, the […]

China

MENASource

Jan 16, 2014

Lebanon: Mohamad Bahaa Chatah, 1951-2013

By Frederic C. Hof

Mohamad Bahaa Chatah, former finance minister and Lebanese Ambassador to the United States, was assassinated in Beirut on December 27, 2013. It has taken me this long to write something about the passing of a friend and a paragon of human decency. When I think back about the Lebanon-related disasters that have occurred during the […]

Middle East
REUTERS/Albert Gea

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2014

How the Voters of Catalonia May Change Europe

By Paul R. Williams and Roushani Mansoor

Today’s vote by the legislature of the Spanish region of Catalonia to formally petition Spain’s government to authorize a referendum on Catalonian independence is a reminder that Europe will face a challenge this year for which it seems unready. Even though Spain has firmly opposed the referendum, the Catalonians are sure to press ahead. This […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union
Libyan Recruits

NATOSource

Jan 15, 2014

Two Thousand Libyan Troops to Receive Training in Italy

By Libya Herald

The 340 Libyan soldiers currently being trained in Italy are the first to benefit from a bilateral agreement that will see up to 2,000 troops trained in 2014.

Italy Libya
Canadian soldiers participating in NATO Exercise Cold Response 2012

NATOSource

Jan 15, 2014

Between A Rock and a Cold Place? NATO and the Arctic

By Page Wilson

At a press conference marking the visit of the North Atlantic Council to Norway in May, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced that “at this present time, NATO has no intention of raising its presence and activities in the High North.”

Europe & Eurasia European Union
USS Connecticut in Arctic Ocean

NATOSource

Jan 15, 2014

Arctic Passage Opens Challenges for US Military

By Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal

The 40-year-old Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star returned to the Arctic Ocean this summer after seven years in semiretirement, charging into a thinning polar ice sheet that U.S. defense officials predict will give way to new commercial waterways and a resource-rich frontier by midcentury.

Europe & Eurasia Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2014

Keep Onus on Iran to Implement Nuclear Accord

By Barbara Slavin

This week’s announcement that the nuclear deal reached with Iran in late November is going to be implemented starting January 20 is welcome news on a number of fronts. It marks the first time in a decade that Iran will pause its progress toward a nuclear weapons capability. In return for modest sanctions relief, the Islamic […]

Iran