New Atlanticist

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 […]

EU-NATO: Playing at Defense

By Julian Lindley-French

 The European Union (EU) and NATO are in deep crisis. The EU is in trouble for at least three major reasons. First, EU is organized around Germany, which for understandable historical reasons trades down military power as it trades up economic and political influence. Second, Britain, one of the EU’s two serious military powers, is now […]

Ukraine Crisis in Tweets

Atlantic Council Vice President Damon Wilson shares his insightful comments and insider knowledge on the developing situation in Ukraine via Twitter. Below is a live feed of some of his tweets, mentions, and retweets.

Newtonian Physics and International Politics

By Harlan Ullman

One of Newton’s famous laws— that every action has an opposite and equal reaction— is often mirrored in international politics. A key question is how to deal with these opposite reactions. Just when breakthroughs in resolving the most pressing international crises appeared possible if not imminent, the roof fell in.

Ukraine on the Edge

By Sabine Freizer

Need for Dialogue on Institutional Reform Too many of the statements being made by foreign officials on the political crisis growing in Ukraine over the past three weeks have described it as a clash between pro-Western values and Russian imperialism. But talking about values will not provide a solution to the dispute. Instead all parties […]

Getting to Fusion – A conversation with Strategists

By Jeff Lightfoot

Emerging technologies are empowering both states and non-state actors in the second decade of the 21st century. Yet these new capabilities exist in – and challenge – an interstate system that is still largely defined by international law and a Westphaelian heritage. If the world is to achieve the fusion scenario outlined in the Global Trends […]

Opportunities Emerging from Biotech and ICT

By Peter Engelke

Ramez Naam, author of The Infinite Resource, opened the Strategic Foresight Forum’s Bio-ICT session by pointing to the many opportunities emerging from biotech and ICT. We are much better now at encoding, printing, and editing genomes now than we were even a decade ago. This leads to big opportunities. First, we can apply biotech to […]

A New Model of International Governance: Why Cities Will Lead the Way

By Jeff Lightfoot

Deputy Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center Jeff Lightfoot reflects on the urbanization panel at the 2013 Strategic Foresight Forum.