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New Atlanticist

Jun 18, 2020

The Trump administration’s plan to upend the WTO

By Mark Linscott

Now the WTO may be confronting a true existential threat brought on by the Trump administration, even at a moment when COVID-19 has severely limited its activities and its “leader,” Director General Roberto Azevedo, announced his departure a year before the end of his term. This new threat comes in the form of an announcement by the US Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Robert Lighthizer that the administration plans to “reset” its tariffs, which have been bound at an average rate of roughly 3.4 percent as the result of decades of give-and-take trade negotiations.

International Organizations Trade and tariffs

New Atlanticist

Jun 18, 2020

Will Ghani’s plan for peace in Afghanistan work?

By South Asia Center

“What has been done so far is good enough, but what matters now is to address the underlying challenges the process faces ahead," Javid Ahmad says. "This includes the continuing concerns regarding the lack of a meaningful intra-Taliban consensus to negotiate peace, one likely to upset the upcoming process should the Taliban make unreasonable demands to please their hardliners."

Afghanistan Conflict

Blog Post

Jun 18, 2020

Iran’s muddled relationship with cryptocurrency is self-inflicted

By Steven Terner

On an institutional level, Iranian policymakers are having a very difficult time understanding how blockchain technology works.

Iran Middle East

UkraineAlert

Jun 18, 2020

Ukrainian educators find multimedia solution to coronavirus school closures

By Veronika Selega

The Ukrainian Online School initiative was Ukraine's response to the closure of schools due to the coronavirus pandemic. It featured both online lessons and TV broadcasts to make sure no child was left out.

Coronavirus Education

Blog Post

Jun 18, 2020

Gulf states should defend their sea lanes: Here’s how

By Richard LeBaron, John W. Miller

The United States should play more of a supporting role with the Gulf states themselves providing more leadership and most, if not all of the forces.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

The future is here

Jun 18, 2020

Germany, urging EU support deal, suffers local outbreak; Beijing cases slow

By Atlantic Council

Germany suffered its worst local outbreak of coronavirus after opening up its economy in mid-May. The rate of new cases in Beijing slowed, while in Europe Germany’s Angela Merkel urged fellow members of the European Union to press ahead and agree on coronavirus support measures.

Coronavirus

UkraineAlert

Jun 17, 2020

One million passports: Putin has weaponized citizenship in occupied eastern Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Moscow plans to issue one million Russian passports to residents of Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine by the end of 2020 in a bid to prolong the six-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine indefinitely.

Conflict National Security

EnergySource

Jun 17, 2020

Innovation can break the gridlock on nuclear waste

By Michelle Brechtelsbauer

Innovation has always been a key tenet of the nuclear power industry. With scientific consensus building that nuclear power must play a significant role in mitigating climate change, there has been renewed focus on fuel design and fuel cycle research to support the next generation of nuclear technology. This attention also creates an opportunity to reinvigorate innovation on back-end technologies that may prove to be the key to circumventing the longtime political impasse on nuclear waste.

Energy & Environment Nuclear Energy
gtc patterned image of a building with the blue sky at the top

Event Recap

Jun 17, 2020

Event recap | Data salon episode 2: Could better technology protect privacy when a crisis requires enhanced knowledge?

By Stewart Scott

On Wednesday, May 27, 2020, the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center and Accenture hosted Dr. Jennifer King, Director of Consumer Privacy at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, and Ms. Jana Gooth, legal policy advisor to MEP Alexandra Geese, for the inaugural episode of the jointly presented Data Salon Series. The event was co-hosted by Mr. Steven Tiel, Senior Principle, Responsible Innovation at Accenture and Dr. David Bray, Inaugural Director, GeoTech Center at the Atlantic Council.

Digital Policy Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Jun 17, 2020

China and India just had their worst clash in forty-five years. What do we know?

By Shubha Kamala Prasad

On June 15, India and China faced off in a clash along the Line of Actual Control (LAC or the de-facto border in the Ladakh region), resulting in the death of at least twenty Indians and an unknown number of casualties on the Chinese side. This has been the first set of fatalities along the Sino-Indian border since the 1975 Tulung La ambush in present-day Arunachal Pradesh, the easternmost state of India, when four Indian soldiers died. While shots were apparently not fired in this recent exchange, the hand-to-hand combat was deadly. What triggered the worst clash in forty-five years? And how will India respond?

China Conflict
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