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Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nov. 26, 2015

NATOSource

May 19, 2016

Vladimir Putin’s Dangerous Obsession

By Editorial Board, New York Times

Syria is just one arena where Mr. Putin’s obsessive quest to make Russia great again has fueled instability and reawakened political suspicions and animosities that faded after the fall of the Soviet Union.

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

May 19, 2016

Reconciliation Will Be Ukraine’s Next Serious Battle with Russia

By Volodymyr Turchynovskyy

Until very recently, Ukrainians predominantly spoke a language of identities, differentiating between people from western Ukraine and people from the eastern part of the country, Ukrainian speaking versus Russian speaking, Greek Catholics versus Orthodox. But what was powerfully witnessed during the Euromaidan was the emergence of a new modality of communication that we might call […]

Russia Ukraine

AfricaSource

May 19, 2016

America’s Friend in North Africa Deserves Better

By J. Peter Pham

It is written in the Book of Proverbs that “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” In other words, a true friend will tell another unpleasant truths, conveying things the other may not want to hear, but doing so for the sake of the other’s own good, which is valued more than even the friendship itself. However, […]

Morocco
Nordic flags

NATOSource

May 19, 2016

Obama and Nordic Leaders United Against Russian Aggression

By Mary Alice Salinas, Voice of America

President Barack Obama said Friday that an agreement between the U.S. and five Nordic nations to increase cooperation in the face of rising Russian aggression is an effort to ensure that “smaller nations are not bullied by larger nations.”

Northern Europe Russia
US Capital, Feb. 27, 2005

NATOSource

May 18, 2016

Twenty Members of Congress Cosponsor Bipartisan Resolution in Support of NATO

By John Hudson, Foreign Policy

In an implicit rebuke of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers have cosponsored a resolution in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 18, 2016

The Digital Single Market: Minding the Gap

By Victoria Langton

When it comes to the transatlantic digital marketplace, confluence is key, panelists agreed at the Atlantic Council on May 17. The United States and the European Union must work together in a “holistic manner” to promote innovation and protect privacy, said David O’Sullivan, the EU’s ambassador to the United States. “The way forward is interoperability,” […]

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

May 18, 2016

Memo to Ukraine and the West: Beware of Unrealistic Peace Plans. The Kremlin Will Outplay You Every Time

By Maksym Khylko

The latest Normandy Four meeting on May 11 in Berlin did not result in any major breakthroughs to end the stalemate in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine agreed to create demilitarized zones in separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine, enhance information-sharing, and halt military exercises along the contact line, but these steps will not break the current […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 17, 2016

Why Sweden Still Hasn’t Joined NATO

By Aaron Korewa

Sweden is one of Europe’s fiercest critics of Russia’s actions against Ukraine, but NATO membership is out for now US President Barack Obama just hosted the leaders of the countries that he wishes the rest of the world would emulate. During the Nordic-United States summit, the president had a chance to repeat to his Scandinavian […]

NATO Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

May 17, 2016

Failure to Quickly Ratify TPP Will Delay Trade Deal by ‘at Least a Decade’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Retired Adm. Michael Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sees lack of political capital A failure by Congress to speedily ratify a free-trade agreement between the United States and eleven other Pacific Rim nations will mean that it would take “at least a decade” to muster the political capital needed to push […]

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

MENASource

May 17, 2016

Yemen’s Peace Talks: A Progress Report

By Daniel R. DePetris

On May 11, Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri — the spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen for over a year — briefed reporters in Washington with a clear message: if the Houthis and supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh continue to insist on unreasonable demands at the negotiating […]

Saudi Arabia Yemen