New Atlanticist

A Srebrenica Moment in Syria?

By R. Nicholas Burns

As the savage killings and stratospheric refugee numbers in Syria continue to climb, a key question emerges. When will the United States and other global powers experience a “Srebrenica moment,” when they can no longer stand on the sidelines and resolve instead that they finally have to act?

The US Military’s Ethics Crisis

By James Joyner

Military officers behaving badly have been making headlines. But, rather than a sign of widespread corruption, the fact that they’re being caught and disciplined is an indication of how seriously the profession takes its ethical responsibilities. From massive cheating scandals with Air Force and Navy nuclear officers and Army National Guard recruiters to generals and admirals abusing the perks of their office or […]

Iran Revolution Commemoration Exposes Insecurity

By Barbara Slavin

Someday, Feb. 11 may be celebrated in Iran as a normal national holiday, akin to France’s Bastille Day or the US Fourth of July. Alas, judging from this year’s official festivities, the anniversary of the 1979 revolution remains the occasion for a show of propaganda rather than a reflection of Iran’s hard-won independence.

Dungan Comments on Hollande State Visit

Nicholas Dungan, a nonresident senior fellow with the Council’s Program on Transatlantic Relations, was interviewed recently about French President François Hollande’s visit to the United States. In the remarks below, Dungan illuminates the interplay of French and American politics, the impact of Syria on the transatlantic relationship, and how this state visit is viewed from both an […]

To Save Ukraine, Pressure its Oligarchs

By Adrian Karatnycky

Eleven weeks after President Viktor Yanukovych sparked peaceful street protests by halting Ukraine’s effort to build closer ties to Europe, his standoff with the opposition has slid into ugly violence that has polarized politics and pushed the country to the brink of a civil conflagration. Ten of Ukraine’s twenty-five regions are beyond the control of […]

No Solution for Syria Without Iran

By Barbara Slavin

When Secretary of State John Kerry met his Iranian counterpart in Munich last weekend, Kerry raised Syria’s refusal to permit humanitarian aid to reach the embattled city of Homs and failure to relinquish its chemical weapons on schedule. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, however, kept the meeting focused on upcoming negotiations over a comprehensive […]

What’s Next for US-Cuba Relations?

US-Cuba relations have been at a stalemate for decades, but a recent poll shows Americans — especially those who have traveled to Cuba — want closer ties with the island. On February 11, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Latin America Center will release the first national poll that centers solely on Americans’ attitudes toward US-Cuba relations. […]

As US Seeks Trade Deals, It Should Include Energy

By New Atlanticist

As the White House scrambles to defend the big trade deals it is negotiating with Europe and Asia, the Atlantic Council’s David Koranyi underscores the benefits of including the energy sector in those talks. After President Obama asked Congress directly for broad authority to negotiate the deals in his State of the Union address last […]

Iran: Rethinking the Endgame

By Robert A. Manning and James Clad

It is with no small amount of trepidation that US and EU negotiators gear up for new talks on a final nuclear deal with Iran later this month. Fierce US congressional criticism of the “5+1” nuclear deal with Iran is missing the point, and promise, of an accord. One need not buy President Rouhani’s self-serving assertion […]