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UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2020

Ukraine can feed Brexit Britain

By Bate C. Toms

The UK is Europe's biggest food importer and Ukraine is one of the continent's top agricultural producers. This makes a post-Brexit free trade deal a potentially big win for both countries.

Trade and tariffs Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 22, 2020

Bipartisan US support for Ukraine at risk as Republicans echo Kremlin

By Steven Pifer

Republicans seeking to defend President Trump have taken to accusing Ukraine of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. This echoes Kremlin talking points and puts longstanding bipartisan US support for Ukraine at risk, says former US Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer.

Politics & Diplomacy Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jan 22, 2020

Europe to take center stage in global trade talks

By Hung Tran

With the “phase one” trade deal behind them, the United States and China will now probably shift attention to sorting out their economic and trade relationships with Europe. Caught in the middle of the US-China trade war and geopolitical competition, the European Union (EU) has tried to steer an independent course, balancing security and geopolitical concerns with economic and business needs. Doing so, however, has exposed many differences vis-a-vis the United States as well as China.

China European Union

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