Category: Blogs

What Can the West Do to Get Putin’s Attention?

By Christopher A. Hartwell and Andreas Umland

The Case for Smarter Sanctions on Russia What should be done about an increasingly aggressive Russia? The past few weeks have brought more evidence of Moscow’s moves away from international norms and law. From continued denials of complicity in the MH17 tragedy and the bombing of a humanitarian convoy in Syria, to Russian President Vladimir […]

Old Ukraine Launches Campaign against Ukraine’s Most Influential Woman and Top Banker

By Anders Åslund

An attempt is underway in the Ukrainian parliament to deprive the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) of its independence and oust its governor, Valeriya Hontareva. This would be a major reversal of Ukraine’s economic reforms and must be stopped. In the last two years, Ukraine has carried out its most fundamental economic reforms since its […]

Going Green: Devising a Clean Energy Strategy for Developing Countries

Developing countries need a concrete strategy, backed by political will, that is focused on using clean energy for growth, according to a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.  As the date on which the Paris climate agreement goes into effect draws near and participating countries begin to take steps toward implementing […]

The Presidential Debates: Unanswered Questions

By Alex Ward and Alexandra Di Cocco

The presidential debate on October 19 was the final one between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump before election day. Historically, the third debate is heavily focused on foreign policy, while the first two are dominated by domestic issues. Other than a few mentions of China, the military campaign to take Mosul back from the Islamic […]

Hacking the Vote

In an election season marred by cyberattacks—an activity the White House has blamed on Russia—the security of voting machines is a prominent concern for voters.  Such concerns could undermine voters’ faith in the system as well as the legitimacy of the result of the presidential election, the Atlantic Council’s Daniel Chiu said in Washington on […]

NATO Selects German Diplomat as New Chief of Intelligence

By Wall Street Journal, German Embassy in Prague, and Hamburger Abendblatt

From Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has appointed its first intelligence chief, a post designed to help the alliance improve information sharing and counterterrorism coordination….

There They Go Again: International Media Enables Russian Aggression in Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

When does a Russian warlord become a “pro-Russian separatist?” Newsrooms around the world may want to ask themselves this question following Russian militant leader Arsen Pavlov’s assassination in Donetsk in mid-October. In the wake of the killing, one news report after another ran with headlines referring to Pavlov as a pro-Russian separatist leader, creating the impression […]

Why Dabiq?

By Feras Hanoush

Syrian opposition groups—speaking through the Euphrates Shield operations room and backed by Turkish tanks and warplanes—announced that they had taken control over the Syrian village of Dabiq, 10 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border and northeast of Aleppo. Compared to other places in the region, Dabiq has great symbolic value, both historically and religiously. It is […]

Czech Republic Claims Propaganda War by Russia and Sets Up Counter-Effort

By Guardian

The Czech government has accused Russia of conducting a propaganda war on its soil and is setting up a unit to counter what it says are networks of pro-Moscow puppet groups.

Keep the Faith: Fighting Islamophobia

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The United States and Europe have entered a “dark period” of Islamophobia, and no easy solutions are at hand, panelists contended in a discussion at the Atlantic Council in Washington on October 20. In the wake of deadly attacks by sympathizers of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Paris, Brussels, and San […]