New Atlanticist

Trump’s Budget Cuts Seen as Detrimental to US Effort to Fight Russian Propaganda

US President Donald J. Trump’s proposed cuts to the State Department’s budget would deprive the United States of the tools it needs to combat Russian hybrid warfare, Madeleine K. Albright, a former US secretary of state, said at the Atlantic Council on June 29. Trump’s proposed budget would sharply cut funding for diplomacy and development. […]

Here’s How to Deal with Russian Propaganda

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Fighting fake news—no, not the kind US President Donald J. Trump has made it a habit of railing against—has been the subject of a weeklong series of meetings and public events co-hosted by the Atlantic Council and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung from June 26-30. The disinformation campaign being waged by various state and non-state actors seeks to “undermine […]

Climate change revisited

By Gray Johnson

Rising sea levels, extreme weather patterns, and other examples of our warming climate pose life-altering threats to communities around the world. Ninety-seven percent of scientists have concluded that the climate is indeed warming—and that humans are playing a role. The question is not whether the climate is changing, but how to address it.

Russia’s Arctic Ambitions: Hype vs. Reality

By Lukas Trakimavičius

Russia has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects to strengthen its military foothold in the Arctic. It is widely assumed that this has been done to establish greater leverage over the fossil fuels that lie beneath the ice. However, the problem with this line of thought is that it is based on exaggerated expectations […]

Cyberattack Cripples Ukraine, Spreads

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The massive cyberattack that crippled public transportation, the central bank, government offices, the state power distributor, and public firms in Ukraine on June 27 serves as a potent reminder of the havoc that can be unleashed by low-level actors, according to an Atlantic Council analyst. “This is another reminder that low-capability actors can have a […]

Charting a Path to a More Secure EU

Political developments in Europe leading up to, and in the wake of last year’s Brexit referendum show that the path toward a more secure future for the European Union (EU) cannot rely on traditional political structures, a reality demonstrated by the campaign and election of French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a political analyst. “The […]

The Islamic State’s New Realities

By Giorgio Cafiero and Daniel Wagner

The combined efforts of a host of international and regional state and non-state actors against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) have reduced the so-called caliphate’s control of Mosul to one district and surrounded its fighters in Raqqa, resulting in more of ISIS’ militants fleeing Iraq and Syria and fewer foreign fighters joining […]

Iran and the United States’ Competition in Eastern Syria

By Giorgio Cafiero and Daniel Wagner

An official response to ISIS’ deadly twin attacks in Tehran on June 7, Iran’s medium-range missile strikes were a clear message not only to many in the region, but to Washington as well, that the Islamic Republic will not hesitate to respond decisively to forces hostile toward Iran. Iran’s strikes against Islamic State of Iraq […]

‘We’re Not Going Back from a Low-Carbon Future’

By Rachel Ansley

Former US officials criticize Trump’s decision to quit Paris climate deal While US President Donald J. Trump predicated his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord on the protection and restoration of US coal jobs, clean energy technology is not only the most effective, but an essential path toward improving the economy and fighting climate change, […]