Category: Blogs

Warsaw May Reach EU Compromise with UK, If It Leads to NATO Force in Poland

By Wiktor Szary and Justyna Pawlak, Reuters

Poland could be open to compromise over British demands to limit the rights of European Union migrants if London helps it bolster the NATO presence in central Europe, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told Reuters.

Putin’s Fragile Popularity

By Andreas Umland

One of the mantras of today’s Kremlin apologists, as well as of some self-described political realists, is that current Russian President Vladimir Putin is unusually popular among Russians. In the interest of pragmatism, they say, the West should acknowledge this allegedly hard fact and adapt its policies accordingly—i.e., try to rebuild a partnership with Russia’s […]

Top News: Syrian rebel group backs cutting ties with Iran; EU warns of risks to peace

By MENASource

Syrian insurgent group Jaysh al-Islam on Monday welcomed Saudi Arabia’s rupture of ties with Iran, saying Tehran’s backing of Shia militias was destabilizing the Middle East and stoking sectarian tensions in Syria.

What Will 2016 Mean for Ukraine?

By Aaron Korewa

In 2015, Ukraine proved it wasn’t a pushover. The country united in the face of Russian aggression and Russian President Vladimir Putin learned that if he wanted his Novorossiya project, it was going to cost him more than a few little green men. Notably, the war in Ukraine was completely absent from Putin’s December 2015 […]

EconSource: Turkey Misses Inflation Target for Fifth Consecutive Year

By EconSource

Turkey’s annual inflation overshot its 5 percent target for a fifth year running in 2015, data showed on Monday, as the annual inflation rate rose to 8.81 percent in December.

Safe Zones and Assurances

By Frederic C. Hof

Three very impressive thinkers—James Dobbins, Philip Gordon, and Jeffrey Martini—recently produced for RAND an essay entitled “A Peace Plan for Syria.” They propose that near-term diplomatic efforts focus not on nationwide governance issues, but on achieving a ceasefire that would ultimately produce three “safe zones”—one for the Assad regime, one for the Kurds, and one […]

New Russian Management of the Donbas Signifies Putin May Be Ready to Negotiate

By Anders Åslund

On December 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed one of his close, trusted aides, Boris Gryzlov, Russia’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which concluded the two Minsk agreements on the Donbas in September 2014 and February 2015. This appointment suggests an important change in Russia’s policy toward Ukraine. Gryzlov is a heavyweight […]

Top Publications in 2015

Here are some of the Atlantic Council’s top publications in 2015.

Atlantic Council’s Top Tweets of 2015

Here are some of our top tweets of 2015.