New Atlanticist

The United States and Iran: Future Tense

Washington’s increased pressure on Tehran and a diplomatic crisis in the Middle East have created an “incredibly unpredictable” political playing field between two longstanding adversaries, according to a regional analyst. “You can posit an array of catastrophic scenarios given the pace and intensity of frictions… between Iran, the United States, and other players,” said Suzanne […]

Surging Autocrats, Wavering Democrats

By Arch Puddington

In his brief time in the White House, US President Donald J. Trump has made a point of bestowing praise on the world’s leading autocrats. He repeatedly called Vladimir Putin a “strong leader,” described Xi Jinping as “a very good man,” said Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was doing a “fantastic job,” and lauded Turkey’s Recep […]

The Arab World’s Sorry State

By Nabeel Khoury

The Arab world is in a sorry state. The spat between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Qatar is but the latest symptom of an enduring serious rot in governance and a destructive power struggle in the wake of the Arab Spring. This situation is compounded by a lack of constructive dialogue on addressing the […]

NATO’s Stoltenberg Sees US Commitment to Article 5

By Kelly Russo

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on June 5 affirmed the United States’ commitment to the Alliance’s collective defense provisions, a commitment US President Donald J. Trump publicly and controversially omitted making at a meeting with NATO leaders in Brussels in May. In a Facebook Live interview with Damon Wilson, executive vice president for programs and […]

An Endangered Free World

By Xiaojing Zeng

As people in Europe and the United States express their growing skepticism of the value of international cooperation, the notion of a “liberal world order,” or the “free world,” is at risk of dissolving, according to Daniel Fried, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center. Fried joined […]

Elections Key to Brazil’s Recovery

By Roberta Braga

A good-humored people by nature, Brazilians know how to take misfortune in stride. On social media, memes and videos poke fun at the widespread corruption allegations that have mired the nation. Almost every politician and the most prominent businessmen have been tainted, leading to one of Brazil’s worst democratic crises since the fall of the […]

May’s Humiliation Could Make Brexit Easier

By Reginald Dale

The Conservative government’s surprise loss of its parliamentary majority in the United Kingdom’s June 8 general election will greatly complicate the task of withdrawing the country from the European Union (EU), on which negotiations are due to start June 19. But it might conceivably lead to a better outcome in the end. Prime Minister Theresa […]

Theresa May’s Failed Election Gamble

By Ashish Kumar Sen

British Prime Minister Theresa May made a gamble when she decided to call early elections with the hope of shoring up political support ahead of difficult Brexit negotiations. That gamble did not pay off. May’s Conservative Party, while still the largest in Parliament following the June 8 election, failed to secure the 326 seats necessary […]

From Huguenots to Gay Refugees: The Cost of Expulsion

By Philip Cornell

With the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Louis XIV famously empowered national prejudice, initiating widespread persecution and driving the mass exodus of French protestants. Many of those within this highly skilled and industrious group fled to London, where they had no small part in the blossoming of English economic life which would […]

Trump Will Need to Deepen US Engagement in Afghanistan

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Donald J. Trump’s America First approach will have to take a back seat when it comes to Afghanistan. As the Trump administration wrestles with a decision on whether to send several thousand additional US troops to Afghanistan in an effort to end a fifteen-year-old war and make peace with the Taliban, there is […]