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New Atlanticist

Mar 7, 2018

Italian Election Puts Europe in Uncharted Waters

By Louis Golino

Italy’s March 5 parliamentary election, in which anti-establishment parties won half of the vote, has caused a political earthquake with the potential to reshape Italy, Europe’s future, and even how populism impacts democracy.  Traditional political forces on the left and center are foundering. What will take their place remains to be seen both within Italy […]

European Union International Organizations

SyriaSource

Mar 7, 2018

Syria at Seven: Part Two

By Frederic C. Hof

The bewildering complexity of a conflict in Syria about to mark its seventh anniversary causes eyes to close and heads to shake among political leaders and their constituents throughout the West. The unanswerable question—How does this end?—plunges even the best of brains into darkness and despair. Russia and Iran—for separate but compatible reasons—have cut through […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 7, 2018

Decree 66 and the Impact of its National Expansion

By Joseph Daher

Ongoing discussions regarding the now famous Syrian legislative law, Decree 66, continue and its recent expansion and approval by parliament in January 2018, is waiting to be officially implemented to the rest of the country. Decree 66, which entered into law as of September 2012, allowed the government to “redesign unauthorized or illegal housing areas” […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 7, 2018

The Smoke and Mirrors Effect of Lebanese Banks Exiting Syria

By Rashad al-Kattan

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime appears encouraged by the modest growth that the economy has finally begun to display. Those tasked with resuscitating the decimated economy have had to contend with an annual GDP drop of whopping 16 percent each year since the beginning of conflict in 2011. Compare this figure to the academic literature […]

Economy & Business Middle East

New Atlanticist

Mar 7, 2018

Shots Fired: EU Takes Aim at Peanut Butter as Trump Targets Steel

By Ashish Kumar Sen

What do bourbon, Levi’s jeans, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, peanut butter, cranberries, and orange juice have in common? The European Union (EU) has threatened to impose retaliatory duties on all of these US products if US President Donald J. Trump goes ahead with his controversial plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Mar 6, 2018

Are Trump’s Tariffs Aimed at the WTO?

By Rachel Ansley

Does US President Donald J. Trump’s startling and widely panned declaration to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports set the stage for the United States’ exit from the World Trade Organization (WTO)? Jennifer Hillman, a fellow at the Institute of International Economic Law, seems to think so. Trump’s maneuvering indicates that he “would […]

Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Mar 6, 2018

Can The West Be Saved?

By Stanley Sloan

An unholy alliance of Russia, the Islamic State, and far-right Western politicians and political movements is threatening democracies in the West. The Western populists—playing off fears created by the Islamic State and cooperating both formally and less openly with Russia—seek to move democracies in the West away from a political system that is based on […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Mar 6, 2018

It’s Time for Trump to Test North Korea

By Ashish Kumar Sen

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has, in a surprise move, reportedly agreed to suspend nuclear and missile tests and start talks with the United States on dismantling his nuclear weapons. Both were prerequisites set by US President Donald J. Trump’s administration before it would agree to an initial, exploratory meeting. US President Donald J. Trump […]

Korea

EnergySource

Mar 6, 2018

Looming conflicts over energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean

By David Koranyi

As the energy potential of the Eastern Mediterranean grows, so does the potential for conflict over resources. To reduce this potential, the United States and the European Union should play a more proactive role in defusing rising tensions in the region through two key channels of diplomacy. The United States and the European Union should […]

Geopolitics & Energy Security Israel

UkraineAlert

Mar 6, 2018

Torture in Eastern Ukraine—and What Comes After It

By Iuliia Mendel

Oleksiy Kanarskyy, a twenty-five-year old Ukrainian, never thought he would celebrate January 1 in freedom. His hopes had faded during three years of detention in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, after endless promises of a prisoners’ exchange between the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists. But on December 27, 2017, the largest prisoner swap since […]

Russia Ukraine
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