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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IranSource

Jul 13, 2018

Expect Russia to Do Little on Iranian Presence in Syria

By Holly Dagres

Israel’s prime minister met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Iranian presence in Syria, on the same day the Supreme Leader’s senior advisor arrived in Moscow with a message. Benjamin Netanyahu told Russia’s president on June 11, “Our opinion is known that Iran needs to leave Syria—that is not something new,” hours after a […]

Iran Israel

UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2018

If Trump Gambles Away Crimea, What Does This Actually Mean?

By Mykola Vorobiov

On July 16, a historic summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will take place in Helsinki. Many have speculated as to what the Master of the Deal will offer the Russian strongman. No one knows. Kyiv is legitimately worried that Trump will give away Crimea, Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula, that Russia illegally annexed […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jul 13, 2018

In the United Kingdom, Trump and May Put Up a United Front

By David Wemer

A day after a dramatic back and forth with NATO allies over defense spending in Brussels, US President Donald J. Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom has once again provided wild swings from apparent discord between the president and his allies, to firm commitments of unity and claims of success.

United Kingdom

UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2018

Why the Donbas Is So Vulnerable to Russian Propaganda

By Vera Zimmerman

When thousands of Ukrainian citizens and most journalists fled to safety, Stanislav Aseev, an aspiring young journalist from the Donbas decided to stay put. Surrounded by frequent shelling, rupturing grenades, flying rockets, worn by the psychological stress of death, destruction, and high unemployment, and bombarded by propaganda that shattered friendships and families, he put his […]

Russia Ukraine

EnergySource

Jul 13, 2018

Not everything is cool with air conditioning

By Peter Freudenstein

When they first cross the Atlantic, Europeans are often perplexed by the omnipresent air conditioners in the United States. Yet when humidity and temperatures reach unbearable levels during the summer months, even hardened naysayers of air conditioners appreciate a cool workplace that allows working without sweating profusely. However, not everything is cool with air conditioning. […]

Climate Change & Climate Action
https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/29478570128/

NATOSource

Jul 13, 2018

Trump Reveals He was ‘Very Firm’ with NATO Allies

By Donald Trump, White House

[Excerpts from remarks by President Trump at press conference after NATO Summit, July 12, 2018.

Germany NATO

UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2018

Stop Freaking Out. Trump Has Less Power Than Everyone Thinks.

By Melinda Haring

If one took the punditry seriously, it would be easy to conclude that the Western liberal order is being unmade before our very eyes. Some worried that US President Donald Trump would destroy the North Atlantic Treaty Organization this week. He didn’t. Instead, he reaffirmed his commitment to it. Yes, he undermined the credibility of […]

NATO Russia

MENASource

Jul 12, 2018

To stabilize Libya, redistribute oil revenue

By Nate Mason

Debate over Libya currently focuses on whether elections should be held in advance of a political agreement or to move forward in the absence of one. This debate is irrelevant. There are no governments or political leaders in Libya with the authority to conclude a political agreement that militias will recognize, nor are those same […]

Geopolitics & Energy Security Libya

New Atlanticist

Jul 12, 2018

This is How the Liberal International Order Dies

By Paul D. Miller

Last year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, after meeting US President Donald J. Trump at the NATO Summit in Brussels, “The times in which we could completely depend on others are, to a certain extent, over…We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands.” That she said it on Memorial Day weekend—the […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jul 12, 2018

NATO engages: A global NATO

By David Wemer

NATO Engages, a two-day event held on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Brussels on July 11 and 12, was jointly hosted by the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), the Munich Security Conference (MSC), and Women in International Security (WIIS).

NATO Security & Defense