Atlantic Council blogs

Ukraine’s Crisis Settles into Deadlock – for Now

By Adrian Karatnycky

Ukraine’s political crisis approaches the New Year holiday (and the Christian Orthodox Christmas on January 7) in an emerging deadlock. At least for now.  President Viktor Yanukovych, reinvigorated by his December 17 cash infusion from Russia, shows signs of having decided to tough it out and play for the long haul. Russia’s offer of $15 billion in loans, […]

Top News: Egypt Activists Maher, Adel and Douma Sentenced to Three Years in Jail

By EgyptSource

Three leading figures of Egypt’s 2011 uprising were jailed for three years each on Sunday for their role in recent protests, as the army-backed authorities intensified a crackdown on dissent. 

Top News: Prominent Egyptian Activists Sentenced to Three Years in Jail

By MENASource

Three leading figures of Egypt’s 2011 uprising were jailed for three years each on Sunday for their role in recent protests, as the army-backed authorities intensified a crackdown on dissent. Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel are symbols of the protest movement that ignited the revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. They […]

South Sudan on the Edge

By J. Peter Pham

Not even thirty months after it achieved independence, South Sudan teeters on the edge of a profound abyss. What started a barely week ago as an “attempted coup”—at least according to President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s version of events—quickly transformed into an orgy of ethnic violence which, in turn, precipitated a renewed call to arms by […]

Top News: Russia blocks UN condemnation of regime assault on Aleppo

By MENASource

Russia on Friday blocked a US-drafted United Nations Security Council statement condemning the Syrian government’s increasing military offensive on Aleppo that has killed approximately 200 and wounded nearly 900 since Sunday. France asserted Friday that the regime’s indiscriminate killing of civilians amounts to war crimes. The US move, followed by Russia’s counter-move, heightened diplomatic tensions ahead […]

A Corruption Investigation Arrests Turkey’s Political Calm

By Ross Wilson

The sweeping anti-corruption arrests carried out this week by Turkish law enforcement authorities and the government’s stern response in sacking a wide range of police commanders mark the biggest political crisis in Turkey since 2007 and signal a further intensification of conflict and turmoil as the country looks at a series of elections in 2014-15. […]

Chinese Military Ship Will Help Guard Destruction of Syria’s Chemical Weapons

By New York Times, Reuters, & South China Morning Post

From Jane Perlez, New York Times:  The same day that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel of the United States blasted the actions of a Chinese ship in the South China Sea as “irresponsible,” China announced that it would deploy a military ship to work with an American vessel involved in the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.

This Week in South Asia: December 14-20

Commentary from the South Asia Center on the most relevant news from the region, and suggested “must-read” analyses from the week.

NIST Attempts to Lift All Boats with Draft Cyber Framework

By Danielle Kriz

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released its important and much-anticipated Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework (PDF). The Framework plan was put forward in February 2013 as part of  President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity Executive Order to push a collaborative concept in which NIST takes the lead in coordinating with all interested stakeholders in the development […]