Category: Blogs

Nigeria’s Optimists

By Kelsey Lilley

The International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Nigeria Country Director Sentell Barnes likes to describe Nigeria as a house. “When you see it from the outside, maybe it looks like it’s falling in. But when you see it from the inside, there are things in place where the country is preventing itself…from going off the edge,” said […]

Keeping NATO Relevant and United

By The Editorial Board, New York Times

Despite all the unsettling news coming out of Europe, not least Britain’s divorce from the common market, one traditional trans-Atlantic alliance remains essentially intact: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

US-Russia Cooperation on Syria Seen as Catalyst for Syrian Conflict Resolution

By Julia Goldman

Reports of newfound military cooperation between Russia and the United States to resolve Syrian conflict are welcomed with caution by Syrian negotiation committees. “The hope is there may be serious cooperation at the highest level to finally address the Syrian situation in a serious way and at the level that is required,” said Bassama Kodmani, […]

A Newly Confident and Audacious Germany

By Constanze Stelzenműller, Washington Post

So the new “White Book” policy framework the German Defense Ministry published this week — its first in a decade — is of interest not only to policy wonks and academics.

What’s Next for Syria? What’s Needed to Advance Syria’s Negotiations

By SyriaSource

On July 14, the Atlantic Council hosted a discussion with three distinguished Syrian opposition representatives: Dr. Bassma Kodmani, member of the Geneva negotiations team and spokesperson for the opposition; Ms. Alise Mofrej, Syrian politician and member of the negotiations team; and Dr. Seve Aydin-Izouli, lawyer and member of the Bar Association of Paris. Their presentation […]

Stoltenberg on NATO and Cyber: Time to Raise Our Game

By Jens Stoltenberg, Defense News

We may not see it but, in the realm of cyberspace, our countries are under attack every single day.

In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe Cornered by a Nonviolent Opposition

By TK Spandhla

Zimbabwe’s government has never before had to deal with a nonviolent civil resistance movement as it is currently facing, according to Chloë McGrath, a visiting fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. The non-partisan nonviolent nature of the protests has “really changed the narrative of the way that protests have worked in Zimbabwe in the […]

Deploy the NATO Response Force to Deter Russia

By Ian Brzezinski

At the NATO Summit in Warsaw on July 8 and 9, the Alliance decided to deploy a multinational battalion in each of the following frontline states:  Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Lithuania. These forces, totaling some 4,000 personnel, are expected to arrive sometime in 2017. Their mission: to deter Russian aggression. Six to nine months, if […]

Human Rights is No Game

Panelists call for protections in nations hosting sporting events International sporting organizations need to step up to the plate and pressure countries hosting major sporting events to increase institutional transparency, reduce corruption, and prevent human rights abuses. “This is a moment of great concern and crisis for world sport defined by human rights [negligence], corruption, […]

Innovative Energy Technology Makes India Prime Candidate for Nuclear Suppliers Group

By Anil Kakodkar

Subsequent to the setback India suffered to its effort to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at the group’s Seoul plenary in June, the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center commissioned a series of essays on India and its integration into the nonproliferation regime. This initiative seeks to engage academics, policy makers, and analysts on some […]