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UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2018

Ukraine Is Not an Afterthought

By Stephen Blank

One of the Russians attending the Munich Security Conference last week tweeted that based on the speeches he had heard, Ukraine was an afterthought in Europe. Nothing would comfort Moscow more than to believe that for the West, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is merely a minor concern. That would make the tasks of obstructing the […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2018

Boko Haram’s latest version relies on its old terror toolkit in Nigeria

By Rachel Ansley

More than ninety missing school girls in Nigeria—thought to have been abducted by Boko Haram—show that while the militants may have largely been defeated militarily, Boko Haram remains alive and well in Nigeria, according to an Atlantic Council analyst.

Nigeria

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2018

Why Sobchak is Wrong and Navalny is Right

By Daniel Vajdich

Ksenia Sobchak sees a “big double standard” in fellow Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s criticism of her decision to stand in the presidential elections in Russia on March 18. In December of 2017, Russia’s Central Electoral Commission determined that Navalny was ineligible to participate in the presidential election citing a sham corruption conviction.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2018

How Meddling in Elections is Unraveling the International Liberal Order

By Klara Jordan

State and non-state actors are increasingly engaging in cyber conflict through a range of disruptive and destructive influence and interference operations. Among their targets? Elections. While election interference does not equal the existential threat of disintegration of nuclear nonproliferation regimes or the perils of climate change, together these challenges all contribute to what was the […]

EnergySource

Feb 21, 2018

Department of Energy steps into the cyber domain

By Reed Blakemore

The Department of Energy’s proposed $96 million Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) signals a bold step in the Department’s efforts to improve its coordination and response to threats to critical energy infrastructure, including cyber-attacks, physical attacks, and natural disasters.   While the 2017 hurricane season provided a stark example of US […]

Geopolitics & Energy Security United States and Canada

EnergySource

Feb 21, 2018

GCC economic diversification: Lessons from Texas

By Randolph Bell

The 2014 oil price collapse sent shockwaves across the oil industry and put economies from North Dakota to Nigeria on notice that $100 oil is not a sure thing. The economy of Texas, however, fared far better during the years of low prices than many experienced oil watchers predicted. Its relative resilience, explained in part […]

Energy Markets & Governance Oil and Gas

EnergySource

Feb 21, 2018

Groko or Noko: What Germany’s grand coalition means for energy and climate

By Ellen Scholl

Members of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) have a big decision to make. SPD party members have until March 2 to vote on whether their party should participate in a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The vote puts SPD party members in a difficult position—endorse a […]

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy Markets & Governance

SyriaSource

Feb 21, 2018

The Slaughter of Eastern Ghouta

By Frederic C. Hof

Just five days ago, in this blog, this writer assessed the possibility of Russia playing a positive role in ending Syria’s armed conflict. The following words proposed the test: “If the mass murder of Syrian civilians continues—and especially if Russian pilots participate in it—Washington and its partners may safely conclude with respect to Russian benign […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2018

Assad’s Forces Are Killing Dozens of Children in a Damascus Suburb

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s forces have unleashed an unrelenting bombardment of the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta that has killed hundreds—many of the victims are women and children—over the past few days. The United Nations (UN) has warned that the situation is “spiraling out of control.” The Assad regime has reportedly not even […]

Syria

IranSource

Feb 21, 2018

Iran’s History of Suspicious Deaths in Prison

By Holly Dagres

A single word “baba,” dad, appeared on an Instagram post by Iranian punk rocker King Raam taken at his father’s funeral.  Kavous Seyed-Emami, a prominent Canadian-Iranian environmentalist and academic, was quickly buried without an independent autopsy due to pressure by authorities, according to his family. Officials said Seyed-Emami had committed suicide in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on February 9, […]

Iran
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