Content

BelarusAlert

Sep 16, 2020

Putin risks turning Belarus from natural ally to enemy

By Hanna Liubakova

Vladimir Putin has successfully intervened in neighboring Belarus over the past month to prop up fellow post-Soviet dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka, but the cost may be rising anti-Russian sentiment.

Belarus Crisis Management

MENASource

Sep 16, 2020

The limits of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and what Syrians can learn

By Reem Salahi and Bachar El-Halabi

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s shortcomings provide multiple lessons for future accountability in Syria.

Lebanon Middle East

Event Recap

Sep 16, 2020

Event recap | Western society at the crossroads, part II: Smart partnerships in a changing world

By GeoTech Center

On Wednesday, September 16, 2020, the Atlantic Council's GeoTech Center hosted an expert roundtable about AI and its rapid ascendance to the next playing field for great power competition between the United States and China.

Cybersecurity Digital Policy

IranSource

Sep 16, 2020

#Don’tExecute: A semi-successful campaign against capital punishment in Iran

By Rebecca Stryer

For the third time in less than two months, Iranians took to Twitter in late August to express their outrage over another death sentence handed out to a protester.

Human Rights Iran

UkraineAlert

Sep 15, 2020

Five predictions for Ukraine’s local elections

By Brian Mefford

Ukrainians go to the polls on October 25 to vote in local elections that promise to serve as the first major electoral test for President Zelenskyy since he and his party swept to power last year.

Elections Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Sep 15, 2020

Don’t believe the SWIFT China sanctions hype

By Brian O’Toole

A major Chinese state-owned bank, the Bank of China (BOC), in July urged its banks to switch away from SWIFT toward a domestic messaging system because of the threat of US sanctions. Don’t take the warning at face value however, as Beijing’s primary motivation is to promote its own domestic system, rather than any real fear of a SWIFT cut-off.

China Financial Regulation
gtc photo of sun peaking through a large rock formation

GeoTech Cues

Sep 15, 2020

Open societies must create a grand strategy framework for data, sensemaking, and trust

By James Schmeling (Guest Author) and David Bray, PhD

Open societies are at a series of crossroads requiring intentional choices for the decade ahead. These choices are forced by new technologies, improvements in data capabilities, and changes in geopolitics globally. While human nature has not changed, the number of people on Earth has changed–up from 1.6 billion people on the planet in 1900, to 2.5 billion in the 1950s, to 7.8 billion in 2020.

Cybersecurity Digital Policy

BelarusAlert

Sep 15, 2020

The EU’s “grave concern” will not help Belarus

By Franak Viačorka

The Belarus crisis has exposed the EU's foreign policy limitations, but a tougher European Union response could still succeed in bringing Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka to the negotiating table.

Belarus Democratic Transitions

New Atlanticist

Sep 15, 2020

Mike Pompeo: ‘The tide has turned’ on global perceptions of Chinese threat

By David A. Wemer

Years of US campaigning against China’s unfair economic practices and aggressive diplomacy, coupled with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, has “awakened” the world to the threat Beijing poses to international security and the global economy, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

China Coronavirus

Five Big Questions

Sep 15, 2020

Five big questions as America votes: South Asia

By South Asia Center

The next US administration will need to confront a slew of regional challenges, including China’s growing political and economic clout; a resurgence of majoritarian politics; strained India-US relations; the impending Afghanistan peace process; and post-COVID-19 reconstruction.

Conflict Coronavirus