New Atlanticist

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 […]

Going Green: Devising a Clean Energy Strategy for Developing Countries

Developing countries need a concrete strategy, backed by political will, that is focused on using clean energy for growth, according to a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.  As the date on which the Paris climate agreement goes into effect draws near and participating countries begin to take steps toward implementing […]

The Presidential Debates: Unanswered Questions

By Alex Ward and Alexandra Di Cocco

The presidential debate on October 19 was the final one between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump before election day. Historically, the third debate is heavily focused on foreign policy, while the first two are dominated by domestic issues. Other than a few mentions of China, the military campaign to take Mosul back from the Islamic […]