New Atlanticist

The Kenyan Elections: Too Soon to Relax

By Bronwyn Bruton

Though incumbent Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has won the 2017 presidential election, the country remains on edge due to allegations of voter fraud by his opponent, Raila Odinga, which could plunge the country into post-election violence. In 2007, a horrific spasm of post-election violence swept across Kenya when Odinga, who has made four bids for […]

The Statue of Liberty and the New Birth of Freedom

By Daniel Fried

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was right in one part of his polemic with CNN’s Jim Acosta on August 2:  the Statue of Liberty was not, in its origins, a celebration of immigration. But the statue’s meaning, its original intent so to speak, will not advance Miller’s or anyone’s nativist agenda. 

Trump’s Dangerous War [of Words] with Kim Jong-un

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Donald J. Trump should ratchet down his rhetoric on North Korea and instead devote his energy to working with the international community to isolate Pyongyang, according to the Atlantic Council’s Robert A. Manning. “There is no imminent threat of attack from North Korea; there is no crisis,” said Manning, a resident senior fellow […]

Kenya’s Fake News Problem

By Kelsey Lilley

Fake news has reared its ugly head in elections again—this time in Kenya. As East Africa’s most tech-savvy country went to the polls on August 8, its citizens were inundated with fake news that colored the campaign season and now threatens hard-won gains to prevent post-election violence. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his primary challenger, […]

Changing Nicolás Maduro’s Calculus in Venezuela

The United States, working with its allies, must gradually ramp up economic sanctions on Venezuela as part of a strategy to change Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian behavior, according to an Atlantic Council analyst. “The goal of the sanctions is to change the calculus of President Maduro and his supporters… so they realize there are […]

Erik Prince’s ‘Reckless’ Proposal for Afghanistan

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council’s Sean McFate warns against plan that would rely more on military contractors A proposal that would have the United States rely more heavily on private military contractors instead of US troops, and install what would essentially be a US viceroy in Afghanistan, is an example of “reckless foreign policy,” according to Sean McFate, […]

IRGC’s Gulf Antics: A Strategy to Undermine the Nuclear Deal?

By Owen Daniels

Iran’s recent aggression toward US forces in the Persian Gulf may be part of a strategy among the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other hardline elements to goad Trump into a rash decision on the nuclear deal that earns them a political payday.   On August 8, Iran flew a drone within one hundred […]

NATO Needs an Offensive Cybersecurity Policy

By Barbara Roggeveen

Modern-day warfare is as much about cyberattacks and the protection of communication and information systems as it is about kinetic military action. In 2016, NATO’s institutional networks experienced on average 500 cyberattacks a month—an increase of roughly 60 percent from the year before. Other recent, high-profile, transnational cyberattacks, such as the WannaCry ransomware attack and […]

Democracy in Doubt

By Elizabeth Ball

Beijing’s disregard for twenty-year-old agreement raises questions about Hong Kong’s future Beijing’s disregard for an agreement that ensures Hong Kong’s basic freedoms raises doubts about the future of democracy in this Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. On July 1, 1997, the United Kingdom (UK) handed Hong Kong back to China, ending […]

Pakistan’s Reform Moment

By Nadeem Ul Haque

Pakistan is once again in the news with the dismissal of its prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, by the supreme court over a corruption case. This development is not unusual in a country with a history of democratically-elected governments being hobbled by incompetence and corruption. Pakistan has also seen three military coups and has been under […]