Category: Blogs

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IranSource

Jan 22, 2020

Perennial repression, mourning, and despair consume Iran

By Masoud Mostajabi

With no hint of reform on the horizon, demonstrations, counter-demonstraions, and repression will remain a component of an unstable Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran Middle East

New Atlanticist

Jan 21, 2020

Trump hails “time for optimism” on climate change, but US leadership still missing

By David A. Wemer

While “Trump is right [that] this is a time for both optimism and action,” John E. Morton, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, said, Trump “is wrong to suggest that the future lies in fossil fuels.” By emphasizing fossil fuel production, Livingston said, “Trump missed a key opportunity to sell the story of a United States that can still—with the right policies—commercialize zero-carbon technologies as well as any other country in the world.”

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy Transitions

New Atlanticist

Jan 21, 2020

The Pakistani courts strike back

By Fatima Salman

The historic sentencing in December of former dictator and president Pervez Musharraf was a blow to the military’s image and directly questions its unequivocal authority over shaping Pakistan’s political life—even if it is only symbolic. In a rare streak of defiance, the country’s courts are pushing back against a traditionally powerful and popular establishment hoping to inch the country from a seemingly illiberal to a more liberal democracy.

Democratic Transitions Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Jan 21, 2020

The economic battleground between China and the United Kingdom

By Michael Greenwald

The importance of the Shanghai-London Stock Connect suspension will depend on whether additional policy moves targeting large British firms will follow. In terms of tangible effects, this event causes little economic disruption, but is probably the most symbolically important use of Chinese financial sanctions thus far.

China Financial Regulation

MENASource

Jan 21, 2020

Repairing Iraq’s relations with the United States

By David Mack

Partners for mutual or overlapping national security objectives, like the governments in Baghdad and Washington, need a sustained dialogue.

Iraq Middle East

UkraineAlert

Jan 21, 2020

Ukraine’s top five 2020 reform priorities

By Ilona Sologoub

The Zelenskyy government has outlined an ambitious reform agenda for 2020 but will they live up to the expectations of an electorate hungry for change? These five key reform areas will give a good indication of the new government's reformist credentials.

Corruption Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2020

A frozen conflict may be Ukraine’s best option

By James Brooke

Many hoped President Zelenskyy's April 2019 election could break the deadlock in peace talks with Russia. However, it now looks like the best Ukraine can expect is a transition from hot war to frozen conflict. That may not be such a bad outcome, argues James Brooke.

Conflict Russia

UkraineAlert

Jan 20, 2020

Is Belarus Putin’s next target?

By Diane Francis

Vladimir Putin has been turning up the pressure on Belarus in recent months as Moscow seeks to move forward with plans to merge the country into a so-called Union State with Russia, but Minsk is proving evasive. Will Belarus be the scene of Putin's next big foreign policy adventure?

Belarus Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Jan 17, 2020

Berlin conference: The end of the game?

By Karim Mezran

The upcoming conference could result in the acceptance by all of Haftar’s future role in Libya and the legitimization of his attack against Tripoli. The Berlin conference could be a trap for the GNA, the courageous fighters of Tripoli, and the population of western Libya.

Conflict Libya

New Atlanticist

Jan 17, 2020

Khamenei’s rare sermon shows Tehran’s continued defiance

By Atlantic Council

Khameinei's January 17 speech shows that "those placing hopes in recent protests in Iran to shake—or even overturn—the system underestimate its power and ruthlessness," Barbara Slavin explains.

Conflict Iran