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New Atlanticist

Mar 15, 2018

Bashar al-Assad: A Profile of a Mass Murderer

By Carmen Gentile

March 15 marks the seventh year of the Syrian uprising, which at its start resembled other protests across the Middle East known then as the Arab Spring. A harsh crackdown by the Syrian regime transformed those student-led demonstrations into an armed uprising that has left hundreds of thousands dead, with some estimates as high as […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 14, 2018

Let Assad Win? That’s Already the US Policy

By Frederic C. Hof

Max Boot in the Post argues that letting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “win as quickly as possible” is “the way to save lives.” But the United States is not obstructing Mr. Assad’s military progress. Mr. Boot is pushing on a door that lacks even a hinge. Bashar al-Assad is indeed winning. Beyond outnumbered, outgunned Syrian […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 14, 2018

Russian and Iranian Calculations Surrounding Eastern Ghouta

By Ghaith al-Ahmad

Russian-Iranian cooperation in Syria is booming today, with support for the Syrian regime making it far superior to opposition forces. After the fall of Aleppo two years ago, the opposition appears on the verge of losing another important area, Eastern Ghouta—a highly strategic area due to its proximity to the heart of the capital city, […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Mar 14, 2018

Britain Expels Russian Diplomats Over Attempted Assassination. Is that Enough?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

British Prime Minister Theresa May on March 14 expelled twenty-three Russian diplomats and suspended high-level contacts with Moscow after blaming Russia for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom. The expulsion, which May described as the largest in more than thirty years, will add further strain to an already tense […]

Russia United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Mar 13, 2018

The Other Firing At State And What That Means

By Graham Lampa

The firing of Steve Goldstein, the suddenly former under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, will have a three-fold negative impact on the United States’ pursuit of its strategic foreign policy interests overseas, in addition to and distinct from the effects of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s firing earlier the same day. […]

SyriaSource

Mar 13, 2018

Operation Olive Branch: Status update

By Aaron Stein

Turkey’s cross-border intervention in Afrin, the Kurdish-controlled enclave in northwestern Syria separated from other Kurdish territory in northeastern Syria, has advanced to the outskirts of Afrin city. The offensive began on January 20th, 2018, with the intention of ousting the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) from the territory it controls in the northwest. After breaking YPG […]

Syria Turkey

UkraineAlert

Mar 13, 2018

From Crimea to Salisbury: Time to Acknowledge Putin’s Global Hybrid War

By Peter Dickinson

Since Russian troops began seizing government buildings in Crimea four years ago, the international community has become accustomed to encountering new acts of Russian aggression on an almost daily basis. Whether it is masked men in eastern Ukraine, a chemical weapons attack in the English countryside, or an attempted coup in the Balkans, the process […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Mar 13, 2018

From Russia With Hate

By Stephen Blank

The poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal, his daughter, and twenty-one other British citizens in Salisbury is the most recent of too many such examples.  On March 12, days after the attempted assassination of Skripal, Nikolai Glushkov, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his home in […]

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TillersonFiredFeature

New Atlanticist

Mar 13, 2018

A State of Mind: Tillerson vs. Pompeo on the Issues, and What that Means for US Foreign Policy

By Atlantic Council

Newly former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his replacement, former Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, do not necessarily see eye to eye on every major foreign policy issue. Their divergent views raise serious questions as to how the shake-up in leadership at Foggy Bottom will alter the course of US foreign policy […]

Iran Korea

UkraineAlert

Mar 13, 2018

Q&A: Tillerson Out, Pompeo In. What Does It Mean for Russia and Ukraine?

By Melinda Haring

On March 13, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was sacked. US President Donald Trump plans to replace him with former CIA director Mike Pompeo. UkraineAlert asked its experts the following: What does Pompeo think about Russian President Vladimir Putin and his aggressive foreign policy? What does the leadership change mean for US policy toward Ukraine […]

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