New Atlanticist

Is the International Criminal Court About to Turn Irrelevant?

By Chloë McGrath

Decisions by South Africa, Burundi, and the Gambia to leave the court raise questions about its future Near simultaneous decisions by South Africa, Burundi, and the Gambia to withdraw from the International Criminal Court have sparked fears of an exodus of African countries from The Hague-based court that is widely perceived as biased against Africans. […]

Rebuilding the Middle East

In light of the ongoing battle for Mosul and the recent bombing of a school in Syria that killed twenty-six civilians, mostly children, it becomes evident that the actors behind the violence and turmoil must be removed from the conflict before there can be sustained efforts to achieve lasting stability in the region, a senior […]

Why Could Wallonia Block the EU-Canada Trade Deal? And What Can Be Done to Prevent a Repeat?

By Marie Kasperek

Wallonia, a small French-speaking part of Belgium with a population of just about 3.5 million, has received a lot of media attention over the past few days for its initial opposition to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a trade agreement that the European Union and Canada have been negotiating for more than seven […]

Moldova at a Crossroad

By Michael Getto

Moldova will hold a historic presidential election on October 30 that could determine whether this country of less than three million tilts toward Europe or Russia. It is Moldova’s first presidential election in twenty years in which voters will get to directly decide the outcome. In March, a court ruled unconstitutional a revision of the […]

Collaboration Seen as Key in Climate Change Fight

Major geopolitical players such as China, India, the United States, and the European Union have committed to cut emissions, but it is equally important to mobilize private sector investment in this effort, Jonathan Pershing, the US special envoy for climate change, said at the Atlantic Council on October 25. “Climate change is a problem that […]

Defining an Arctic Strategy

National security and climate change makes it imperative for the United States to develop the strategic infrastructure needed to play a key leadership role.

Internet Under Siege: The Cost of Connectivity

By Rachel Ansley

In the rush to produce cost-effective connected devices, not enough focus has been placed on security measures. The cost of such inattention became evident on October 21 when hackers exploited vulnerabilities in hundreds of thousands of everyday devices, including baby monitors and cameras, to cripple the Internet. This attack was merely a sign of things […]

Trouble with the Philippines

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Tensions between the United States and the Philippines—a former US colony with which Washington has had a mutual defense treaty since 1951—have put a question mark over the future of the relationship and are being watched warily by countries in the Asia-Pacific. Noting that the US-Philippines treaty alliance has been a “foundation for stability and […]

Pushing for Peace in Colombia

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US Ambassador to Colombia, Kevin Whitaker, cites need to move quickly on achieving an accord acceptable to all sides Two ground realities in Colombia—former guerrillas gathered in remote rural cantonments with scarce infrastructure and nationwide elections in the spring of 2018—make it imperative that a peace agreement that is acceptable to all sides is quickly […]

With Pipeline, Russia Sustains Dominance of Turkish Gas Market

By John M. Roberts

Russia’s decision to go ahead with Turkish Stream, an offshore pipeline that will bring Russian gas to Turkey, cements its dominance of the Turkish gas market. In political terms, the revival of Turkish Stream—or TurkStream as Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy company, now terms the project—epitomizes the entente developing between Moscow and Ankara, a relationship that […]