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SyriaSource

Sep 6, 2017

The Decline of the Syrian Elite Forces

By Abdulrahman al-Masri

Increasing tensions are hurting the relationship between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Arab tribal Syrian Elite Forces (SEF) at a time when both groups are cooperating in the battle for Raqqa. On August 25, seven units from the SEF, whose fighters are largely from Deir Ezzor province, defected and joined the SDF’s […]

Syria

IranSource

Sep 6, 2017

Nikki Haley: The Iran Deal Is in US National Security Interests

By Barbara Slavin

Appearing at a Washington think tank on Tuesday, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley laid out what appeared to be a rationale for the Trump administration to walk away from the Iran nuclear deal next month.

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2017

Should the US Arm Ukraine? For the Answer, Look to the Soviet-Afghan War

By Johnny Herbst

In February 2014, Russia seized and annexed Crimea; a few weeks later, Moscow launched its no-longer-covert hybrid war against Ukraine in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. It is now 2017 and the situation remains relatively unchanged. The conflict in the east is at a standstill, no side has a clear advantage, and it appears that […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 5, 2017

Parliament Is the Problem in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

September marks the beginning of season 48 of “Game of Chairs,” otherwise known as the Ukrainian parliament. As the country’s MPs return for the autumn parliamentary session, few will be tuning in. While the palace intrigues and Machiavellian plot twists of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” makes for compulsive viewing, the ideological ambiguity and backroom dealing […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Sep 4, 2017

How to Finish the Revolution in Ukraine

By Olena Sotnyk

More than three years after the Euromaidan, Ukraine still hasn’t successfully prosecuted any high-level crooks, and we’ve got plenty here. At Stanford University’s Draper Hills Summer Fellowship this summer, we examined how to catch a “big fish” and looked at a case study in Indonesia, where the country’s anticorruption commission had just begun. Despite being […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2017

Guatemala Averts Political Crisis, But Damage is Done for Jimmy Morales

By Juan Felipe Celia

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales shocked Guatemalans and the international community last week when he ordered the expulsion of Iván Velásquez, commissioner of the United Nations International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), the organization leading the investigation into the illegal financing of Morales’ presidential campaign. Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has blocked the expulsion order, which was […]

Central America

SyriaSource

Sep 1, 2017

Who is Russia Deploying its Newest MANPADS Against in Syria?

By Haid Haid

Russia announced earlier this month the deployment of its cutting-edge 9K333 Verba Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) to it forces in the eastern Ghouta region near Damascus. According to pro-Russian outlets, the aim is for MANPADS to destroy drones used by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an alliance dominated by the rebranded al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fateh […]

Syria
Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Aug. 28, 2017

NATOSource

Sep 1, 2017

New Ambassador: US Remains United Behind NATO

By Kay Bailey Hutchison, New York Times

I was nominated as United States ambassador to NATO by President Trump in late June.

NATO Security & Defense

MENASource

Sep 1, 2017

Sisi and Trump’s good relations don’t define US policy

By Hatem Maher

When President Donald Trump won the US presidential election late last year, Egyptian media coverage praising his stunning rise to power suggested that Egypt was embarking on a new era of much improved relations with its long-time ally. Trump and his Egypt counterpart Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi exchanged words of praise on many occasions, and the media […]

North Africa

New Atlanticist

Aug 31, 2017

Hurricane Resilience and the Role of Oil Product Reserves

By Philip Cornell

Hurricane Harvey, which has devastated the city of Houston and the surrounding areas, has struck at the heart of the US energy sector. The consequences will outlive the rainfall, and raise questions about the utility and design of strategic product storage in a rapidly changing domestic energy landscape. Since making landfall on August 25, Harvey […]

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