Category: Blogs

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SyriaSource

Jan 30, 2018

Why Syrian Refugees are Leaving Germany

By Hosam al-Jablawi

After an arduous journey filled with many obstacles, including traversing the Mediterranean Sea and crossing chain-linked border fences, Syrian refugee Mahmoud Mardini chose to return to Turkey illegally. He gave up residency in Germany, along with its associated benefits, after failing to achieve his dream of completing his university education.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2018

Kremlin Report: A Missed Opportunity to Check Russian Aggression

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The US Treasury Department’s decision not to slap sanctions on Russian oligarchs and officials, some with ties to the Kremlin, is a missed opportunity to check Russian aggression, according to the Atlantic Council’s Daniel Fried. “I think the [Trump] administration missed an opportunity [on January 29] to extend the use of sanctions to Russia’s aggressive […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 30, 2018

Payback: President Trump Gets Revenge for Russian Sanctions

By Anders Åslund

On July 28, the US Senate voted 98-2 to adopt the new Combating America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). President Donald Trump had little choice and signed it into law on August 2, although the main aim of the law was to make sure that the president could not revoke the sanctions against Russia because […]

Russia Ukraine

SyriaSource

Jan 29, 2018

US-Syria Policy: What is Needed to Defeat ISIS and Repair the Damage to the Syrian Society?

By Feras Hanoush

Former US president Barack Obama announced the first airstrike against the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) in Iraq in August 2014. Within a month of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s declaration of the caliphate, aerial operations against the Islamic State were launched, but despite this fact, the costly process of defeating ISIS dragged on for another three […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jan 29, 2018

Bombardier Ruling: Advantage Trudeau

By James Wholley

US International Trade Commission’s ruling boosts Canadian prime minister The surprise ruling by the US International Trade Commission (USITC) in favor of Canadian aerospace manufacturer Bombardier over Boeing, a US firm, should come as a relief to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau whose government has been caught between domestic politics and US President Donald J. […]

United States and Canada

UkraineAlert

Jan 29, 2018

Yes, Ukraine’s Oligarchs Own the Airwaves, but Their Days Are Numbered

By Vitalii Rybak

Oligarchs own the airwaves in Ukraine. More than 75 percent of Ukrainians regularly watch TV channels owned by Ukrainian oligarchs Viktor Pinchuk, Ihor Kolomoisky, Dmytro Firtash, and Rinat Akhmetov. But this is hardly news since TV serves as the primary source of information for 58 percent of Ukrainians. While these oligarchs are the biggest media […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jan 29, 2018

Is China’s Plan to Cut Emissions for Real?

By Craig Hart

China’s new emissions trading scheme (ETS) may set the country on a path to achieving its goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, but concerns regarding effective emissions cuts have raised questions about the efficacy of the new policy. In December of 2017, China launched its national greenhouse gas emissions trading market, creating the world’s largest […]

China

New Atlanticist

Jan 29, 2018

How the Harmel Report Helped Build the Transatlantic Security Framework

By Jamie Shea

Last December, NATO commemorated the 50th anniversary of the “Report of the Council on the Future Tasks of the Alliance,” more commonly known as the Harmel Report. Initiated by Pierre Harmel, the former Belgian minister of foreign affairs, the report not only averted permanent damage to the Alliance that could have resulted from policy disagreements […]

NATO Security & Defense

UkraineAlert

Jan 29, 2018

Is This Russia or Ukraine? Top Anti-Corruption Activist May Face Five Years in Prison on Bogus Charges

By Melinda Haring

In October 14, 2014, activists unveiled a three-meter high set of flesh-colored buttocks in front of Ukraine’s parliament. Giggles aside, the stunt was a serious one, meant to focus Kyiv’s attention on parliament’s foot dragging on corruption. An idiomatic expression in Ukrainian, “to be covered by an ass,” means that something awful will happen. Through […]

Ukraine

IranSource

Jan 29, 2018

The Revolution That Didn’t Happen in Iran and the Reforms That Should

By Sirous Amerian

The protests that spread across Iran in late December and early January turned a lot of people into Iran “experts.” Iranian expatriates ranging from physiotherapists to rocket scientists offered analyses on Twitter, alongside non-Iranians with an interest in the political dynamics of the country. A majority asserted that the protests were the precursors to the […]

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