Category: Blogs

The Reina Nightclub Attack Might Change Turkey-China Relations

By Ivy Yang

The Reina nightclub attack in Istanbul on New Year’s Eve left 39 dead and dozens injured. When he was captured on January 17, Turkish officials said that the main suspect, Abdulkadir Masharipov, is an Uzbek national and a member of the Islamic State. Signs show that he might also be an ethnic Uyghur, and though […]

TRADE in ACTION – January 19, 2017

By Global Business & Economics Program

This week in TRADEinACTION: European Parliament announces new President, US- EU take stock of trade relations, World Economic Forum in Davos – and a new US President on Friday.

Trump Said What?

A closer look at some of Donald Trump’s foreign policy positions US President-elect Donald Trump’s comments about NATO, the European Union (EU), and Russia have rattled US allies as they look for indicators as to how the United States will engage with the international community and establish its role in the world. On January 16, […]

Trump’s Cabinet Knows NATO is Important, But It’s Not Clear He Agrees

By Editorial Board of the Washington Post

CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY by Donald Trump’s national security nominees last week suggested that the incoming administration would not seek to dismantle the alliances that have undergirded the West — and U.S. global leadership — since 1945.

How Far Will Putin Dare to Go in 2017?

By Peter Dickinson

From Brexit to Trump, 2016 was the year fake news became headline news. In Ukraine, however, it was old news. Ukrainians are living through the third winter of an ongoing hybrid war with Russia, a conflict driven to a remarkable degree by fake news. But fake news is only one of the many hybrid war […]

Break the Caucasian Chalk Circle

By Alexandra Hall Hall

As hopes fade that President-elect Donald Trump will take a stronger line on Russia than candidate Trump, and worries grow about his commitment to key Euro-Atlantic institutions such as the EU and NATO, it is not just small countries on the fringe of Europe, like Georgia, whose future is at stake. It is time for […]

Trump’s War in Syria

Incoming US administration must draw a red line between al Qaeda and US-backed rebels, say analysts US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration must consider the far-reaching consequences of allowing US-backed opposition forces to work with al Qaeda in Syria, Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said at the Atlantic Council on […]

The War on ISIS Cannot Be Won Militarily Alone

By Mona Alami

The war on the Islamic State (ISIS) has significantly weakened the organization in Iraq and Syria. Yet ISIS can still punch above its weight as demonstrated in the most recent attacks it has claimed. In Turkey, an attack on the Reina nightclub on New Year’s Eve left 39 dead and dozens injured, while the Berlin […]

Samantha Power Outlines Russian Threat to the United States, Rules-Based Order

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, on January 17 described Russia as a “major threat” facing the United States and the rules-based liberal world order, and cautioned Americans against allowing Moscow to divide them in the face of this threat. “Our values, our security, our prosperity, and our very way of […]

What Is behind the Surge in Attacks against al-Qaeda’s Syrian Affiliate?

By Haid Haid

There is a dramatic increase in the targeted assaults on Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), the rebranded former al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front. The US-led international coalition 21 reportedly killed JFS fighters on January 11. The attack seems to be part of a wider campaign against the group which led to the killing of more than 50 […]