New Atlanticist

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 […]

FROM KYIV: Ukraine’s Massed Protesters Have Pushed Their Country to a Tipping Point

By Adrian Karatnycky

Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Adrian Karatnycky just returned from Ukraine’s turbulent capital, and will be analyzing the political crisis there for the New Atlanticist. His first report . . . KYIV — For twenty-six days Ukrainians have stood in protest demanding that their president, Viktor Yanukovych, reject the blandishments of autocratic Russia. Instead, they insist […]

Turn Ukraine Back Toward the European Union

By Paula J. Dobriansky

While it is very late in the game, it is not too late to return Ukraine to the path of European integration. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, enraged by President Viktor Yanu­kovych’s recent rejection of painstakingly negotiated trade agreements with the European Union, continue to protest Yanukovych’s apparent turn toward Moscow and the corruption and cronyism […]

Fred Kempe Named to Defense News “100 Most Influential People in US Defense”

Defense News recently named Atlantic Council President & CEO Frederick Kempe to their “Top 100 Most Influential People in US Defense” list:

John McCain, Chris Murphy Travel to Kyiv

Senator McCain to Speak at the Council on Thursday Wednesday, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released a statement condemning the use of violence by Ukrainian authorities against peaceful demonstrators in Kyiv, Ukraine. His statement ended with: “Those brave men and women should know that they are not alone. Their friends across the world stand in […]

Congress Avoids Clash on Iran Sanctions But Road Ahead Uncertain

By Barbara Slavin

Congress appears poised to give the Barack Obama administration some early Christmas gifts as it finishes its work for the year. A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House and Senate on Tuesday reached a budget compromise that, if passed by both bodies, would avert the threat of another government shutdown in early 2014. Meanwhile, a […]

To Promote US Cybersecurity, Don’t Erect Borders in IT Procurement

By Maryam Cope

Wrapped up in last year’s Federal funding bill is a creeping policy seeking to improve cybersecurity in federal procurements of information technology (IT).  Since becoming law, however, this policy has done the opposite: it has threatened the health of the U.S. economy, particularly the job-creating tech sector, and negatively impacted the ability of federal agencies […]