New Atlanticist

Ukraine’s Crisis Settles into Deadlock – for Now

By Adrian Karatnycky

Ukraine’s political crisis approaches the New Year holiday (and the Christian Orthodox Christmas on January 7) in an emerging deadlock. At least for now.  President Viktor Yanukovych, reinvigorated by his December 17 cash infusion from Russia, shows signs of having decided to tough it out and play for the long haul. Russia’s offer of $15 billion in loans, […]

South Sudan on the Edge

By J. Peter Pham

Not even thirty months after it achieved independence, South Sudan teeters on the edge of a profound abyss. What started a barely week ago as an “attempted coup”—at least according to President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s version of events—quickly transformed into an orgy of ethnic violence which, in turn, precipitated a renewed call to arms by […]

A Corruption Investigation Arrests Turkey’s Political Calm

By Ross Wilson

The sweeping anti-corruption arrests carried out this week by Turkish law enforcement authorities and the government’s stern response in sacking a wide range of police commanders mark the biggest political crisis in Turkey since 2007 and signal a further intensification of conflict and turmoil as the country looks at a series of elections in 2014-15. […]

NIST Attempts to Lift All Boats with Draft Cyber Framework

By Danielle Kriz

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released its important and much-anticipated Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework (PDF). The Framework plan was put forward in February 2013 as part of  President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity Executive Order to push a collaborative concept in which NIST takes the lead in coordinating with all interested stakeholders in the development […]

Three Cheers for China!

By Robert A. Manning

At a moment when few give the Obama administration much credit for either competence or strategy, a cascade of events in East Asia in recent days, not least John Kerry’s trip to Southeast Asia, point to important gains for the stabilizing and offshore-balancing role of US policy toward the Asia-Pacific.

The Pemex Door Has Opened

Latin America Center Director Peter Schechter and Deputy Director Jason Marczak wrote a guest blog for the Financial Times to coincide with the newly published briefing on Mexico’s energy reform. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto capped a year of reform with a final act that far exceeded expectations of the 47-year-old leader’s first year. Energy […]

Ukraine’s Russian Deal: Not Really a Big Victory for Putin

By Adrian Karatnycky

Passions are flaring today – in the streets of Kyiv, and in government buildings across the European Union and in Washington – over yesterday’s announcement of Russian financial support for Ukraine. EU officials are issuing warnings that the deal is shortsighted and  will retard Ukraine’s modernization. Ukrainian opposition politicians and leaders of its mass protest […]

Nuclear Détente With Iran: Here’s What Could Disrupt It Before It Gets Going

By Jofi Joseph

Almost a month has passed since Iran and six major powers agreed on some first steps to address international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and provide limited sanctions relief to Iran. However, implementing those confidence-building measures (CBMs) has yet to begin and no date has been given for an official start to the six-month period […]

Ukraine’s President Yanukovych: He Got Game

By Adrian Karatnycky

It’s been a pretty good two days for Ukraine’s embattled President Viktor Yanukovych, despite three weeks of massive protests against his reversal of plans to tighten cooperation with the European Union. Monday brought news that government-friendly candidates (most running as independents) won four out of five parliamentary by-elections, most of them in areas that should be […]

China Ascendant: Is Conflict Inevitable?

By Rajan Menon

Thucydides’ purpose in his great epic was to account for “what led to this great war falling upon the Hellenes.” He acknowledged that what we know as the Peloponnesian War was produced by many different disputes and depicted them masterfully, laying bare their specificities. But, in the opening pages, he warns us that dwelling on […]