Category: Blogs

Trump’s Budget Cuts Seen as Detrimental to US Effort to Fight Russian Propaganda

US President Donald J. Trump’s proposed cuts to the State Department’s budget would deprive the United States of the tools it needs to combat Russian hybrid warfare, Madeleine K. Albright, a former US secretary of state, said at the Atlantic Council on June 29. Trump’s proposed budget would sharply cut funding for diplomacy and development. […]

Ukraine’s Trashy Politics

By Diane Francis

Lviv is Ukraine’s most beautiful city, an exquisite UNESCO World Heritage site that has survived attacks and changed hands for seven centuries. The city is a successful IT hub and its hotels, restaurants, and architecture attract 2.5 million visitors a year. Since 2006, its reform-minded mayor and city council have upgraded infrastructure and enticed industry […]

Here’s How to Deal with Russian Propaganda

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Fighting fake news—no, not the kind US President Donald J. Trump has made it a habit of railing against—has been the subject of a weeklong series of meetings and public events co-hosted by the Atlantic Council and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung from June 26-30. The disinformation campaign being waged by various state and non-state actors seeks to “undermine […]

TRADE in ACTION – JUNE 29, 2017

By Global Business & Economics Program

Indian President Narendra Modi met with President Trump. The two leaders discussed expanding military cooperation and fixing the trade deficit. Meanwhile, three days of NAFTA hearings kicked off on Monday.

Mattis: ‘Russia Must Know… What We Will Not Tolerate’

By Jim Mattis, Department of Defense

Germany and the United States stand together, allied against threats to the peace and security of this continent, Canada and the United States and the disruption of harmony elsewhere.

ISIS after Raqqa

By Feras Hanoush

On June 6, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the launch of the battle to liberate Raqqa from the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh). The battle for Raqqa, which is the main stronghold of ISIS in Syria, was announced concurrently with the SDF capturing wide areas in Raqqa countryside in preparation to laying […]

Operation Successful, Patient Dead

By Frederic C. Hof

For the past several years, this writer has resisted joining the “It’s too late to do anything about Syria” chorus. That resistance is, at long last, breaking down, at least with respect to what is happening in eastern Syria. We are now reaping the whirlwind for a misconceived policy that has given the precious gift […]

Is the Status Quo Approach to Yemen Insane?

By Abdulwahab Alkebsi

If the definition of insanity is doing something repeatedly and expecting a different result, then the world’s approach to the Yemen conflict amounts to insanity. While the purgatories of the Syrian civil war, global terrorism, and Iraqi sectarianism persist, it is clear that the West has become exhausted with crises in the greater Middle East. […]

War in Ukraine 2.0

By Melinda Haring

Russia is targeting the most capable and dedicated parts of the Ukrainian military. On June 27, Colonel Maksim Shapoval, commander of an elite Ukrainian military intelligence unit, was killed when his car exploded during his morning commute in downtown Kyiv. A few hours later, a massive cyberattack took out computer systems across the city. The […]