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.
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Jan 29, 2019

Time to Shame Putin Again

By Maksym Eristavi

Chechnya is at it again. Recent reports indicate that there’s another anti-gay pogrom underway in the Russian region of Chechnya. It is said to include kidnappings, secret torture chambers, and arbitrary executions. Violence against these individuals is escalating, and it’s the biggest spike of targeted attacks against gay Chechens since 2017 when 100 LGBTQ people […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 29, 2019

The United States is stronger with allies, says Atlantic Council’s Damon Wilson

By David A. Wemer

As growing aggression from Russia and China becomes “the main geopolitical challenge of the 21st century,” Wilson said, “the United States is much better positioned if it does not assume the burden of countering Beijing and Moscow alone.”

NATO

IranSource

Jan 29, 2019

Glimmer of Hope in Iran for Long-Persecuted Baha’is?

By Tara Sepehri Far

The Iranian constitution after the 1979 revolution provides limited freedoms for religious minorities, and it does not recognize the Baha’i community, with more than 300,000 members in the country. Instead, for four decades, the Islamic Republic has routinely harassed, prosecuted, and imprisoned Baha’is solely for practicing their faith. Among other things, the government severely restricts Baha’is […]

Iran

UkraineAlert

Jan 29, 2019

Why the Hungarian Link in Russia’s Grand Strategy Is Overblown

By Gergely Varga

Editor’s Note: This article is a response to Stephen Blank’s essay, Putin’s Energy Strategy Is More Ambitious than You Think, which we published on January 4, 2019.   Energy policy is a crucial part of Russia’s strategy to maximize its influence in Europe and divide the European Union. As highlighted by critics of Russia’s assertive energy […]

Hungary Ukraine

MENASource

Jan 28, 2019

New technologies for a new Tunisia

By Wafa Ben-Hassine

With the new Start-Up Act, passed on April 2, 2018, Tunisia has started to clear the path for innovation that could lead to economic growth. The Act removed several bureaucratic hurdles that innovative projects faced when creating new business structures—vestiges of a system implemented in colonial times.

North Africa

UkraineAlert

Jan 28, 2019

Five Key Takeaways from Davos 2019 for Ukraine

By Andy Hunder

“No other event has the same global appeal,” commented Andy Christie, private jets director at Air Charter Service, predicting up to 1,500 individual private jets flights to be made in and out of this year’s Davos summit. Top global business leaders, political leaders, economists, celebrities, and journalists turn up year after year to the World […]

Ukraine

IranSource

Jan 28, 2019

Persia is back, but in a different form

By Kayhan Barzegar

A powerful trend at the international level—led by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia—is trying to sell the idea that Iran’s active regional presence, together with its missile program and location at several of the world’s geostrategic chokepoints, is an attempt to restore the Persian Empire and is a fundamental danger to global security. […]

Iran

MENASource

Jan 25, 2019

Yemen: Women, war & political marginalization

By Afrah Nasser

When Yemen’s last peace talks in Stockholm took place in December 2018, only one female delegate was at the negotiation table. Assistant Secretary of the Yemeni Popular Nasserist Party, Rana Ghanem was the only female member, in the Yemeni government delegation. Over the past three Yemen peace talks, only three women have sat at the negotiation table.

Yemen

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2019

A step closer to peace in Afghanistan?

By Omar Samad and Bharath Gopalaswamy

Washington will need to scale its expectations and give the process more time to mature. But the United States must also maintain its strategic imperative to find a way to leave Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Conflict

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2019

Here’s what you should know about what’s going on in Venezuela

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The change in leadership is Venezuelan-driven but requires key support from the international community, including the United States.

Venezuela