Category: Blogs

Content

New Atlanticist

Dec 21, 2017

Why the United States Must Treat LGBTI Rights as a Foreign Policy Imperative

By Atlantic Council Diversity Initiative

The imposition of US sanctions on the Chechen president responsible for the systematic purge of gay men demonstrates a willingness to take a stand on human rights issues essential for the preservation of US values and the maintenance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights as a foreign policy imperative. On December 20, […]

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2017

Why Yegor Soboliev is Still Optimistic and Even Joyful about Ukraine’s Future

By Diane Francis

The claw back of reforms in Ukraine is alarming, and the latest blow was the dismissal on December 7 of hardworking Yegor Soboliev as chairman of parliament’s anti-corruption committee. A former investigative journalist and Maidan activist turned politician, he has been at the forefront of reforms such as electronic asset declarations for state officials, the […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Dec 21, 2017

Miscalculations, Machismo, and Military Misjudgment Could Create New Global Hot Spots

By Daniel V. Speckhard

Connecting 2017’s political and military missteps to 2018’s global economic outlook The shift toward nationalist populism, demonstrated by the sweeping political changes around the world in 2017, has throughout history been a harbinger of global instability and conflict, and could directly affect both the international security landscape and global economy in 2018. Looking back, it […]

China Iran

Rebuilding Syria

Dec 20, 2017

The Kurdish School Curriculum in Syria: A Step Towards Self-Rule?

By Sardar Mlla Drwish

The Kurds in northern Syria have established their own education system in what they call Rojava, unfettered by the central government in Damascus, after taking control of the area following the Syrian regime’s withdrawal. This has been achieved through rolling out a Kurdish curriculum, which has so far been introduced for Kurdish (non-Arab) pupils in […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Dec 20, 2017

Competition and Continuity Define Trump’s New National Security Strategy

By Rachel Ansley

While US President Donald J. Trump’s new national security strategy (NSS) solidifies his campaign rhetoric into the fundamentals of foreign policy, it also sets forth a surprising degree of continuity from the approaches of previous administrations, according to a former US national security advisor. “The threats we face have a lot of continuity [with] the […]

UkraineAlert

Dec 20, 2017

Backsliding on Democracy Imperils Security in Ukraine and Poland

By Stephen Blank

Poland and Ukraine are frontline states for European security. That fact alone makes their mutual backsliding away from democratic reform—the indispensable precondition for their revival and security—so dangerous. The Polish government seems to want to return to its interwar model; at that time, it repressed its minorities and ultimately failed, ending up bereft of friends […]

Poland Ukraine

Rebuilding Syria

Dec 20, 2017

Assad’s Political Investments in Reconstruction: Rewarding Regime Loyalists and Allies through Suspicious Deals

By Hosam al-Jablawi

A few months ago, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad delivered a speech to Syrian expatriate businessmen announcing his imminent military victory over “terrorism” thanks to the support of his Russian and Iranian Allies. In his speech, Assad promised loyalists and businessmen a share in reconstruction while stressing that the US, Gulf, and other western companies would have […]

Syria

MENASource

Dec 19, 2017

The best of 2017: Top 5 blog posts of MENASource

By MENASource

As the year winds down, we look back at insight from experts that resonated with our readers. In case you missed them, we have listed our top five blog posts of the year in order of popularity. Take a look at impactful analysis on the MENA region with excerpts from the articles below.  H.A Hellyer […]

UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2017

Ukraine’s Oligarchs Still Control the Media. Will Anyone Ever Challenge Them?

By Vitalii Rybak

The oligarchs still control the airwaves in Ukraine. Ten of eleven national television channels are directly or indirectly connected to politicians and oligarchs. More than 75 percent of Ukrainians regularly watch TV channels owned by Ukrainian oligarchs Viktor Pinchuk, Ihor Kolomoisky, Dmytro Firtash, and Rinat Akhmetov. In radio, the situation is even worse: the top […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Dec 19, 2017

ISIS, Syria, and Iraq: A Year-End Appraisal

By Frederic C. Hof

As 2017 closes, so does the physical “caliphate” of a pseudo-religious criminal enterprise known by the names ISIS, ISIL, Daesh, and Islamic State. But killing the caliphate is only step one. Keeping it dead will be a generational struggle. Rooted in al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and supplemented by pro-Saddam Hussein Iraqi Baathists, ISIS seized the […]

Iraq Syria
Load More