New Atlanticist

Obama’s ISIS Strategy: Is It Enough?

By The Atlantic Council

Following President Obama’s September 10 speech outlining the US strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS, the Atlantic Council held a conference call to assess the president’s plan. Listen to the audio below for expert analysis from Michael V. Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency, former CIA director, and Atlantic Council board director; […]

As ISIS Upends States in the Mideast, Boko Haram is Doing the Same in Africa

By New Atlanticist

Governments and Media, Seized With Iraq-Syria Crisis, Are Paying Scant Attention in Nigeria In the ninety days since ISIS militants suddenly seized Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, international news media, governments, and even last week’s NATO Summit have swung their attention and agendas to debating how to counter the explosive growth of the group’s apparent capacities […]

Yemen: Protests and Mistrust of Government Hamper Another Arab Struggle Toward Stability

Months After ‘National Dialogue’ Opened a Path Forward, Ill-Prepared Reforms Ignite New Turmoil Eight months after Yemen sparked hope for its stabilization with a broad political accord for a new, federal state, that agreement has eroded into massive protests that threaten to undermine the earlier progress. Tens of thousands of Shia tribesmen from Yemen’s Houthi […]

In Russia, Speaking Power to Truth

By Irena Chalupa

Thugs Beat the Official Who Revealed Kremlin’s Secret Burial of Soldiers Killed in Ukraine War The story Lev Shlosberg told Russians last week is potential political dynamite for President Vladimir Putin: Shlosberg, a provincial legislator from Pskov, visited the funeral for two local men, paratroopers of the 76th Airborne Division, who had been killed in […]

NATO Sec Gen: Russian Aggression Is a “Wake Up Call”

By New Atlanticist

Leaders at NATO Summit Criticize Russia, Caution against Isolationism The crises in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are expected to top the agenda as Western leaders gathered in Wales for the NATO Summit this week. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, speaking at the Atlantic Council’s Future Leaders Summit, called Russia’s aggression […]

Quick Take: NATO Summit Will Make No Big Step on Ukraine-Russia Crisis

By Jorge Benitez

Alliance Will Talk Budgets, Partnerships, and Rapid Deployment, But Its Ukraine Move Will Be Symbolic As NATO convenes its annual summit conference this week, policy analysts have urged the alliance to take a major step in response to the escalating crisis in Ukraine. They are unlikely to do so, focusing instead on three more prosaic […]

In a Dirty War, a Ukrainian General Builds Trust With Rebels to Free Hostages

Volodymyr Ruban Crosses the War’s Front Lines to Negotiate With Russian-Backed Separatists Amid the war in southeast Ukraine, hundreds or thousands of people have been imprisoned by  both sides – some as enemy combatants, others more arbitrarily. The man whom both sides call to get hostages or prisoners released is an officer of Ukraine’s military […]