New Atlanticist

Putin’s Illusion of Victory in Crimea

By James Rupert

Two weeks after Russian forces began seizing control of Crimea, the daily news from there suggests that Vladimir Putin has won a virtually uncontested victory in his mission to re-absorb former lands of Russia’s empires. Russian troops in Crimea steadily have taken military posts and facilities where Ukrainians refused to surrender their loyalty to the […]

Ukrainian Leaders Gather Support in Washington

On his fourteenth day as Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk hustled through Washington today to gather support for his country against Russia’s invasion of Crimea. He visited the White House, the State Department, Congresss, the Atlantic Council, and the International Monetary Fund. At the White House, President Obama welcomed Yatsenyuk by commending the Ukrainian […]

A Ten-Point Plan for Ukraine

By Rajan Menon

President Obama’s inbox is doubtless packed with proposals for stopping the standoff between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine’s Crisis Government Seeks a Strategy Against Russia

By James Rupert

Despite Crimea Invasion, Kyiv’s Mood Is Moderate, Pragmatic, Non-Violent Ukraine’s interim government took office twelve days ago to face a Russian invasion, a national bankruptcy, and deep regional and political divides. As its top officials prepared to visit Washington this week to seek support, an Atlantic Council delegation first went to Kyiv to meet them, […]

Lost in Space

By Bharath Gopalaswamy

The Crimean Crisis highlights America’s Dangerous Dependence on Russian Space Technology. The Crimea crisis, the sharpest conflict in decades between the United States and Russia, is raising concerns about the future of the U.S. space program. The cooperation in space that Washington and Moscow fostered in the quarter-century since the Cold War ended is now […]

Russia is Playing a Weak Hand Very Strongly

A regular contributor to CNN.com, Ambassador-in-Residence Michael Oren writes that in both Syria and Iran, Russia has played its relatively weak strategic hand exceedingly well and is threatening to outmaneuver the United States in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the United States has paused its effots to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace in order to generate pressure on […]

Don’t Give Up on Crimea

By Damon Wilson

Ukrainian Troops Sustain Symbols of Sovereignty That Could Weaken Russia’s Grip Twenty-four hours after being named to command Ukrainian forces in Crimea, Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky switched allegiance to the Russia-installed Crimean puppet government. Accompanied by Russian special operations troops and unidentified gunmen, he strode into the Ukrainian military’s Perevalne base demanding that its soldiers […]

To Bolster Ukraine, Help Modernize its Arms Industry

By James Hasik

A Better Army and Economy Will Help Kyiv Stay Independent of Moscow As the United States and NATO search for the right ways to oppose Russia’s seizure from Ukraine of the Crimean Peninsula, policymakers should note a surprising industrial fact: Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter, having sold more than $1.3 billion in weapons […]

US Needs New Strategy for Syria

By Barbara Slavin

 Reports that UN special envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, is considering resigning should not surprise anyone. Two rounds of “peace talks” in Geneva between the Syrian regime and émigré opposition figures produced no progress toward a political solution of the conflict, which this month marks a third grim anniversary.

Sweden and America Link Arms on Development Assistance

By Mark Brzezinski and Bjorn Lyrvall

If we asked a random sample of people what the world of 2030 might look like, what sorts of answers would we get? Amid predictions of advances in medicine, transportation and communications technology, we would no doubt expect some dire hypothetical scenarios: If population growth continues at current rates, if the gap in income equality […]