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New Atlanticist

Dec 6, 2017

Trump’s ‘Pretty Serious Mistake’ in the Middle East

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital does not advance the interests of the United States or the region, said James Cunningham, a former US ambassador to Israel US President Donald J. Trump’s decision to reverse almost seven decades of US policy and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is “potentially, a pretty serious mistake,” […]

Israel Middle East

UkraineAlert

Dec 6, 2017

Elections Are Around the Corner, and Ukraine’s Political Parties Are Not Ready

By Michael Druckman and Katie LaRoque

Ukraine’s political parties are in trouble. Public support for national parties is at its lowest since the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity. According to a recent poll by the International Republican Institute (IRI), 22 percent of Ukrainians said they would not vote in the 2019 parliamentary elections and 30 percent could not answer the question. Ukraine’s […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 6, 2017

Here’s How Ukraine Is Bridging the Artificial East-West Divide

By Peter J. Marzalik

The human toll of the Russia-instigated war in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed over 10,000 lives since 2014, remains underreported. Newspapers rarely document the daily grind of life in the conflict zone, which has lost any sense of normalcy for thousands of Ukrainians who wish to live in peace. For schoolchildren along the contact line […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Dec 6, 2017

Here’s what the new NDAA means for missile defense

By Matthew Kroenig

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by the US Congress in November prioritizes investments in homeland missile defense. US President Donald J. Trump has called for a “state-of-the-art” missile defense system and this new defense budget begins to take steps in that direction. The bill authorizes a $12.3-billion-dollar topline budget for the Missile Defense […]

Korea Missile Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 5, 2017

International Olympic Committee Knocks Russia Out of Winter Games

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s historic decision to ban Russia’s Olympic team from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, is a welcome action on the part of the committee, according to Atlantic Council analysts. “Whether it’s violating arms control treaties, breaching peace agreements, or cheating in sports competitions, Russia’s leadership must start facing […]

Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 5, 2017

Q&A: What Does Saakashvili’s Detention Mean for Ukraine?

By Melinda Haring

Former Georgian President and Odesa oblast governor Mikheil Saakashvili was taken into custody in Kyiv on December 5. His supporters eventually freed him and he addressed a large crowd outside of the parliament. Later in the day, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko told parliament that Saakashvili accepted money from a fugitive oligarch to fund antigovernment protests […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 5, 2017

How Ukraine Can Not Only Survive but Thrive

By Melinda Haring

The timing couldn’t have been better. Ukraine’s war is dragging on, Russia is proposing a sham peacekeeping plan, the humanitarian crisis in the east is worsening, and the conflict is receiving increasingly fewer mentions in the international press. In this midst of this dismal news, Ukraine’s deputy speaker of parliament Oksana Syroid organized the Lviv […]

Russia Ukraine

SyriaSource

Dec 5, 2017

A Future in Question: The Uncertain Fate of Syria’s Opposition Media Activists

By Luna Safwan

Media activists opposed to the Syrian government have documented much of the worst of the war in Syria. However, as President Bashar al-Assad regains control of opposition-held territory, these civilian journalists fear they will have no place in Syria’s future. “It’s not like I did not see this coming. What were we expecting? The government will […]

Syria

IranSource

Dec 5, 2017

Gold Trader’s Sensational Case Pushes Iran and Turkey Closer

By Shahir Shahidsaless

Already-strained relations between Turkey and the US took a further negative turn on Nov. 30 when Reza Zarrab, a controversial Turkish-Iranian gold trader, told a New York court that Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan was personally involved in an international money-laundering scheme that allowed Iran to break US sanctions. Zarrab testified that starting in 2012 he helped Iran […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 5, 2017

Iranian-Backed Houthis Just Caused a Self-Inflicted Wound by Killing Yemen’s Former President

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The death of Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, at the hands of his former Houthi allies will weaken the Iranian-backed rebels, according to Nabeel Khoury, a nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. “The demise of Saleh now actually weakens the Houthis’ military and makes them less […]

Saudi Arabia Yemen