Category: Blogs

EU Lawmakers Endorse Joint European Defense Plans After Trump Victory

By Robin Emmott, Reuters

The European Parliament on Tuesday backed an EU plan to deepen coordination of member states’ defense policies and rely less on the United States,

Mr. Trump, Don’t Pull Out of the TPP

By Ashish Kumar Sen

If US President-elect Donald Trump were to keep his promise to withdraw the United States from a trans-Pacific free-trade agreement it would severely undermine US credibility and open the door for China to set the rules on global trade, according to Atlantic Council analysts. Trump issued a video on November 21 in which he outlined […]

Will Donald Trump Empower Strongmen in the Middle East?

US President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy will likely seek to support the “strongman vision” of authoritarian leaders in North Africa, said Karim Mezran, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. Mezran joined Elissa Miller, assistant director with the Hariri Center, for a Facebook Live discussion on the future […]

US Must Remain Committed to Paris Climate Deal

Continued US commitment to the Paris agreement is crucial to the future of the deal and its ability to combat climate change, said Richard L. Morningstar, founding director and chairman of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. Morningstar joined Tom Cunningham, deputy director of the Global Energy Center, for a Facebook Live discussion on the […]

The Sequencing of Peace in Yemen

By Nabeel Khoury

In a last ditch effort by the Obama administration to salvage Yemen’s peace talks as the war grinds on, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Oman twice this month, personally meeting with Houthi representative Mohammed Abdussalam. In a statement released after his second visit, Kerry welcomed a 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen, but not all parties appeared to […]

Will Trump’s Foreign Policy Make Any Sense?

By Diane Francis

The election of Donald Trump marks a turning point in the world of international relations. Speculation abounds as to what he’s going to do, but his policies remain unknown, possibly unformed. Still, this doesn’t discourage us from speculating as well as poring over the resumes of his appointments to date. But the only certainty is […]

Eastern Europe Must Prepare for the Worst about Trump

By Alexander J. Motyl

President Barack Obama’s advice to the world that it shouldn’t “assume the worst” about Donald Trump may apply to countries whose existential interests cannot be threatened by the president-elect’s policies, but those that face a possible Russian invasion must assume and prepare for the worst. They cannot, as Obama recommended, “wait until the administration is […]

In Time of Trump, Advice to Friends of Ukraine (And Democracy)

By Jeffrey Gedmin

Friends of Ukraine, brace yourself. There’s no way to sugar-coat this for the democracy crowd either. Donald Trump has suggested that Ukraine is not our business (it “affects Europe a lot more than it affects us”). Our president-elect admires Russia’s authoritarian leader (he’s “brilliant,” a “strong leader”), and wants Vladimir Putin as an ally (“Russia […]

Article 5 Must Be ‘Red Line’ of US-Russia Reset, says Former NATO Secretary General

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Newsmaker Interview: George Robertson served as secretary general of NATO from 1999 to 2003 Russia would be “ill-advised” to take great comfort from Donald Trump’s election, said George Robertson, a former secretary general of NATO, adding that NATO’s commitment to the defense of its member states must be at the core of any future reset […]