Content

SyriaSource

Jun 10, 2016

Challenges Facing a Developing Kurdish Media

By Jiwan Soz

It is difficult to find a single professional Kurdish media outlet operating in Iraqi Kurdistan and Kurdish-controlled parts of Syria, or what in Kurdish is called Rojava. The situations in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and Syria under the Baathist regime led to a lack of independent media and institutions to nurture Kurdish media and language. […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 9, 2016

Energy Security is No Monkey Business

By Brenda Shaffer

A monkey prancing on an electricity transformer caused  a nationwide power outage in Kenya on June 7.  The incident is a reminder of the vulnerability of our energy infrastructure. Policies to protect such infrastructure tend to focus on preventing terrorist attacks on pipelines and power stations. But, as the incident in Kenya has shown, even […]

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

Bremain vs Brexit

Jun 9, 2016

Britannia, Rule the Trade!

By Nathaniel Rome & TK Spandhla

The decades following World War II experienced an explosion of global trade. The annual growth rate of global exports averaged 8 percent in the 1950s, 9 percent in the 1960s, and 20 percent in the 1970s (World Trade Organization). During this boom of global trade, the volume of UK exports grew in absolute terms. However, up until the mid-1970s, the UK trade growth lagged behind the global average.

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Jun 9, 2016

Great Expectations: Aspirant Nations See NATO Enlargement as Vital to Europe’s Stability

By Mitch Hulse

NATO membership for countries in the Balkans and for Georgia is crucial for the stability of Europe and will send a clear signal that Russia does not have a veto over the alliance’s enlargement plans, panelists, including officials from Macedonia and Georgia, said at the Atlantic Council on June 8.

European Union Greece

New Atlanticist

Jun 9, 2016

Keep Door Open to Russia: Breedlove

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe advocates establishing a line of communications with Moscow It is important not to close the door to Russia, which is led by a man whose number one goal is to create rifts within NATO and the European Union, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, Gen. Philip M. […]

NATO Poland

MENASource

Jun 9, 2016

The Impact of Ennahda’s Shift Away from Political Islamism

By H.A. Hellyer

The international media greeted a monumental announcement by the leader of Tunisian’s main Islamist movement, Rachid Ghannouchi in mid-May with a variety of reactions. Ghannouchi’s declaration that Ennahdha would separate the movement’s religious mission (al-da’wah) from its political imperatives (al-siyasah) was taken to mean a step towards secularism; a departure from its historical Islamist orientation; […]

North Africa

SyriaSource

Jun 9, 2016

Syrian Children and the Exit from the Dark Tunnel

By Salam Kawakibi

For more than five decades, the Syrian child was subjected to an orderly process of upbringing to control the phases of his growth and maturity. Following the nursery phase, which did not have an ideological formation, the child entered the realm of official popular organizations, along the North Korean model, controlling the child’s consciousness and […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 9, 2016

Al-Qaeda Wants to Establish an Emirate in Syria, but Not Now

By Haid Haid

There have recently been reports warning that the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliated group in Syria, is determined to declare its own Islamic emirate in Syria in the near future, but these warnings are likely jumping the gun. The argument goes that Nusra’s long term objective is establishing an Islamic emirate in Syria, but unlike […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 8, 2016

NATO Enlargement Seen About Filling Gaps

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Montenegro’s defense minister, Milica Pejanović-Đurišić, has some advice for countries aspiring to join NATO: explain to partners and friends the importance of alliance membership from a political standpoint. Pejanović-Đurišić is well positioned to give such advice. In December 2015, NATO extended an invitation to Montenegro to begin accession talks and become the twenty-ninth member of […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Jun 8, 2016

Ukraine’s Next Big Reform You Haven’t Heard of Yet

By Michael Druckman

Ukraine watchers know all too well that for every success reported about the country, there are numerous setbacks. Yet there are encouraging signs currently occurring within the reform process, particularly at the local level. Perhaps the most successful reform is quietly taking place outside of Kyiv, and has the potential to reinvigorate civic participation, address […]

Ukraine