Category: Blogs

Guinea Democracy Stillborn?

By J. Peter Pham

While it was the first of France’s African colonies to achieve independence, democracy came rather late to Guinea. The country’s first president, Ahmed Sékou Touré, who ruled with an iron grip from 1958 until his death in 1984, turned out to be a Marxist ideologue who aligned his country with the Soviet Union, ruining the […]

TTIP Action

Speeches & Official Announcements Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Kenny of Ireland After Bilateral Meeting “There are terrific opportunities for us to further collaborate in creating jobs both in the United States and in Ireland. One of those areas is the potential for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States […]

Cyber Experts Seek a Prescription to Limit Risks of Putting Patient Data Online

By Larry Luxner

Panel debates ‘rewards and risks’ of technological advances Midway through Season 2 of Showtime’s popular TV series Homeland, US Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody—who is being blackmailed by Iraqi terrorist Abu Nazir—sneaks into the home office of Vice President William Walden, desperately looking for the serial number of Walden’s pacemaker. Brody finds it and transmits the […]

Interview with Chairman of Nigeria’s Electoral Commission

By Africa Center

Transcript of Interview with Professor Attahiru M. Jega, OFR Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)Federal Republic of Nigeria   March 19, 2015 J. Peter Pham: For those who do not follow Nigeria closely, could you briefly give us an overview of the sheer scale of what is involved in organizing general elections in the Federal […]

Netanyahu’s Hard Right Turn Could Put Israel on Road to Isolation

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Onus is on Israeli government to mend US ties, says Atlantic Council’s LeBaron Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pre-election declaration not to allow the creation of a Palestinian state could lead to Israel’s further isolation internationally, says Atlantic Council analyst Richard LeBaron. “That’s not good for Israel, and individual Israelis feel it too,” LeBaron, a […]

Top News: Battle for Aden Airport Forces Closure

By MENASource

Forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh stormed the international airport in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday, triggering an intense, hours-long gunbattle before security forces loyal to President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi repelled them.

EconSource: Slightly firmer oil may help Gulf stabilise

By EconSource

Oil’s overnight rebound and a dovish statement from the US Federal Reserve may help Gulf stock markets stabilize on Thursday after falling sharply earlier this week, although crude prices remain volatile and unpredictable. Gulf equities dropped in panic sell-offs on Wednesday after US crude futures slid to a fresh six-year low and Brent oil also […]

Brent Scowcroft: An Enlightened Realist

By Fred Kempe and Jeffrey Lightfoot

The battleground was a familiar one to General Brent Scowcroft: the White House Cabinet Room where President George H.W. Bush had convened his National Security Council to reach urgent decisions amid an unfolding crisis. It was eight in the morning of August 2, 1990, only thirteen hours after Saddam Hussein had sent his Iraqi army […]

Happy Birthday, General Scowcroft

“Brent has a great propensity for friendship,” former President George H.W. Bush said of his friend and National Security Advisor, Brent Scowcroft. On his 90th birthday, some of those friends join the Atlantic Council in wishing General Scowcroft a very happy birthday. Fred Kempe, President and CEO of Atlantic Council Dear Brent, How does one […]