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UkraineAlert

Jun 22, 2017

Experts Urge Congress and Trump to Arm Ukraine

By Melinda Haring

A bipartisan task force made up of former US defense officials, ambassadors, and security experts renewed calls for the United States to give lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine. On June 21, the National Security Task Force of the Friends of Ukraine Network urged the United States to provide a range of weapons, intelligence, and training. […]

Ukraine

SyriaSource

Jun 21, 2017

Missing a Syria Strategy?

By Frederic C. Hof

The Trump administration stands accused by some commentators of having entered into an escalating military situation in eastern Syria without the benefit of an objectives-based strategy. The truth or falsity of the accusation can best be judged by President Trump, National Security Advisor McMaster, Secretary of Defense Mattis, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of […]

Syria

UkraineAlert

Jun 21, 2017

Russia, Not Ukraine, Is Serial Violator of Ceasefire Agreement

By John E. Herbst

Like many articles and analyses of the Minsk process, “Ukrainian Military Progress Could Violate Minsk Peace Process” requires additional analysis on the geopolitical underpinnings and implications of the issue at hand. Without this context, it is difficult to make sense of any facts presented. The context is this: Moscow is conducting the war in Ukraine’s […]

Ukraine

MENASource

Jun 21, 2017

Expert Commentary on the Appointment of Mohammed bin Salman as Saudi’s New Crown Prince

By MENASource

On June 21, 2017 Saudi Arabia’s king appointed his son, Mohammed bin Salman, as crown prince, replacing the king’s nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef, as first in line to the throne. Bin Salman, who is just 31 years old, is known as an ambitious member of the royal family who wields an unprecedented amount of power […]

Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Jun 21, 2017

Libya: A Political and Economic Trainwreck

By Mohsin Khan and Karim Mezran

Libya is in a Catch-22 situation—political agreement cannot be reached without economic improvement and political stability is necessary to revive the economy. Turning the economy around is contingent on oil production and exports coming back on line, at least in its initial phase. In order to produce and export at full capacity, the country requires […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

Jun 21, 2017

Why Talk About Disinformation Now?

By Alina Polyakova

Disinformation has become a hot topic since Russia’s interference in the US presidential elections in 2016. As seventeen US intelligence agencies agreed in December of last year: “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election.” This influence operation aimed to undermine faith in democracy and the credibility […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jun 21, 2017

Here’s How to Fight Back Against Russian Political Warfare

By Alexander Vershbow

Three-and-a-half years ago, Russia illegally annexed Crimea and launched its campaign to destabilize eastern Ukraine. Russian aggression prompted the biggest increase in NATO’s collective defense capabilities since the Cold War—including the historic deployment in June of four multinational battlegroups in the three Baltic States and Poland. But deterring military aggression is only half the battle. […]

Cybersecurity Russia

EconoGraphics

Jun 20, 2017

Balancing Act

By Samuel Weitzman

On June 12, in US President Donald J. Trump’s first full cabinet meeting, the new US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer briefly encapsulated the young administration’s philosophy on international trade: “Deficits do matter, and ours are coming down.” This is not a particularly partisan view; Trump’s opponent in the 2016 presidential election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, spoke out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during her campaign despite supporting it previously.

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

UkraineAlert

Jun 20, 2017

Will Ukraine Finally Pass Land Reform?

By Oksana Bedratenko

Ukraine still needs a powerful push to finally shrug off the 2014-2015 crisis, which caused its economy to contract by 16.5 percent. The IMF prescribed anticorruption reform, privatization, pension reform, and allowing private sales of land to give Ukraine that boost. It is important to move fast with these reforms for two reasons: first, elections […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jun 19, 2017

Macron’s Putin Policy: ‘Firmness Without Provocation’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

French President Emmanuel Macron would like to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to seek mutually acceptable solutions to crises that have bedeviled ties between the West and Russia over the past few years, France’s ambassador to the United States, Gérard Araud, said in an Atlantic Council phone briefing on June 19. […]

France Russia