Category: Blogs

Ford ‘Disappointed’ by Trump’s Decision to Quit Paris Climate Deal

While Ford Motor Company is “disappointed” by US President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, it will not impact the company’s strategy to continue working toward technological advances designed to improve customers’ quality of life, William C. Ford, Jr., executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, said at the Atlantic Council […]

The Rise of Katibat Dir’ al-Watan: A Journey to the Lebanon-Syria Border Areas

By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

Four years ago, Lebanon’s north-eastern borderlands with Syria came to the forefront of media attention as the entry point for Hezbollah fighters to participate in the battle to capture the key Homs countryside town of al-Qusayr from Syrian rebels. Though there had already been reports of Hezbollah ‘martyrs’ through fighting in Syria, al-Qusayr was the […]

Q&A: What Does Archbishop Huzar’s Example Mean for Ukraine?

Archbishop Lubomyr Huzar died on May 31 at 84. Born in Lviv on February 26, 1933, Huzar’s family fled to Austria in 1944 when Soviet forces seized Lviv. His family eventually moved to the United States, where he studied at a number of universities and then obtained his doctorate in Rome. He returned to Lviv […]

Latest ISIS Attack in Egypt Leaves Christians Feeling Out of Place at Home

By Jihad Abaza

“Girgis and I used to go to the monastery together. It was a getaway, and we enjoyed serving the priests and volunteering our time. We would rent a small truck, or a motorcycle, and we would go once every week, or every ten days,” Eid Ishak says, as he recalled the trips he and his […]

Haftar and Salafism: A Dangerous Game

By Ahmed Salah Ali

There is a contradiction in General Khalifa Haftar’s narrative. Although he denounces his opponents as “takfiri terrorists and Kharijites” and accuses Misrata of employing political Islam, turning to takfiri groups for help, embracing the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh), and supporting Ansar al-Sharia, he also has strong ties to Salafist […]

Ulana Suprun: Tough, Tenacious, and Transforming Ukraine’s Health Care

By Melinda Haring

For nearly a year, Dr. Ulana Suprun has been pressing for a complete revamp of Ukraine’s health care system, and she is finally close to seeing it replaced by a brand-new set of policies. She’s got a firm deadline: the current parliamentary session ends on July 14. If she can’t get the bill passed in […]

The Role of Decentralization in Combatting Extremist Influence in Iraq

By Todd Diamond

Many governance experts see decentralization as a potential model to mitigate political and sectarian challenges in Syria, Libya, and Iraq and improve livelihoods in those countries by restoring basic services to local populations. But in countries with a long history of absolute control, central government officials frequently resist any reforms seen as weakening their influence, […]

Pence Affirms US Commitment to NATO, Collective Defense

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Transatlantic Alliance Front and Center at Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Leadership Awards US Vice President Mike Pence affirmed the United States’ support for NATO and its commitment to the collective defense of the Alliance at the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Leadership Awards reception in Washington on June 5. “Our commitment [to NATO] is unwavering,” Pence said.  The […]

70 Years Later, George C. Marshall’s Values Are Still Relevant

By Stephen R. Grand

It may be an awkward moment for a birthday, but the Marshall Plan turned seventy on June 5. Designed to give Europe a hand up rather than a handout following the devastation of World War II, the Marshall Plan became the cornerstone for the emergence of a US-led, rules-based order that has enhanced Europe’s and […]