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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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https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2018_07/20180706_2018-07-RSM-Placemat.pdf

NATOSource

Jul 9, 2018

Why NATO Matters

By Editorial Board, New York Times

[M]any people — including, evidently, the president of the United States — wonder whether the alliance still has a purpose.

NATO Russia

SyriaSource

Jul 9, 2018

Where Is the Opposition?

By Frederic C. Hof

With a Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin summit looming, American policy toward Syria may be on the line. Specifically: in an effort to accommodate a Russian counterpart for whom he has high regard, President Trump may be tempted to short-circuit the American-led post-Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) stabilization of northeastern Syria. The silence of the Syrian opposition […]

Syria
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/29829421110

NATOSource

Jul 9, 2018

Ahead of Key Summit, Allies Wonder: Will NATO Survive Trump?

By Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post

NATO leaders once feared President Trump wasn’t invoking the right words to convince Russia that the United States was still serious about defending Europe.

NATO Russia
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55006/photos/49330

NATOSource

Jul 9, 2018

Denigrating NATO Weakens Trump and Strengthens Putin

By Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal

President Trump will attend a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization national leaders this week, and the stakes are unusually high for everyone.

NATO Russia

NATOSource

Jul 9, 2018

America’s NATO Allies Are Stepping Up

By Jens Stoltenberg, Wall Street Journal

NATO was created in 1949 to ensure that none of us will ever have to live through another world war.

Afghanistan NATO

IranSource

Jul 8, 2018

Why Iran’s Water Problems Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon

By Holly Dagres

A drinking water shortage set off this week’s round of protests in oil-rich Khuzestan province, home to much of Iran’s ethnic Arab minority. Protesters in cities including Abadan and Khorramshahr damaged property and clashed with police, leaving at least one demonstrator injured. Protests over water are not unprecedented in Iran. Similar protests have popped up […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jul 8, 2018

The High Politics (and Stakes) of the NATO Summit

By Clementine G. Starling

NATO must overcome two forms of discord—US-European and intra-European—in order to ensure the future health and effectiveness of the Alliance. It is not enough to hope for mere platitudes of unity at NATO’s summit in Brussels on July 11 and 12, sentiments that European leaders may not receive from the US president. At last year’s […]

NATO Politics & Diplomacy

NATOSource

Jul 8, 2018

Merkel: NATO Must Refocus on Russia Threat

By Deutsche Welle and Politico

From Deutsche Welle:  “The challenges for NATO have changed drastically in recent years,” Merkel said.

Germany NATO

NATOSource

Jul 7, 2018

Senior US Official: Trump Wants to Cut American Defense Spending in Europe

By Greg Jaffe, Josh Dawsey, and Carol Leonnig, Washington Post

President Trump will land in Europe next week amid fears that he will blow up a key summit focused on Europe’s defense

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Jul 6, 2018

NATO: The United States’ alliance

By Magnus Nordenman

NATO is not about the United States doing Europe favors. It is an alliance created by the United States, and which has proven remarkably effective in transforming to, in great part, advancing American national security objectives.

NATO Security & Defense