Content

IranSource

Feb 10, 2020

Iran’s credit line to Syria: A well that never runs dry

By Karam Shaar and Ali Fathollah-Nejad

There is barely an article about the Syrian economy since the 2011 uprising that does not entail a reference to that rather mysterious Iranian credit line.

Economy & Business Iran

UkraineAlert

Feb 9, 2020

No new Ukraine without justice for Maidan victims

By Yuri Polakiwsky

Ukraine has made considerable reform progress over the past six years, but until Kyiv offers justice for the dozens of Ukrainians killed during the country's 2014 Revolution of Dignity, many will continue to doubt whether fundamental change is possible.

Democratic Transitions Rule of Law
3D Printing

New Atlanticist

Feb 7, 2020

In an era of great-power competition, procurement reform not more regulation for the defense industrial base

By Tate Nurkin

What strategic gains can DoD realize from being a better customer? Given the reluctance of the US commercial sector to engage in defense work and the speedy innovation of our rivals, reform is needed.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Feb 7, 2020

US will use energy revolution to transform its foreign policy, energy secretary says

By David A. Wemer

The United States’ transformation into a net exporter of energy “has revolutionized our foreign policy, and it frees us to pursue options that we have not had at least in my lifetime,” US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said on February 7. Speaking at the Atlantic Council, Brouillette argued that “with US energy production now at record levels, the world is no longer subject to the will of countries who seek to do us harm,” such as Russia and Iran, and allows the United States to use energy cooperation and investment as a key tool to advance its foreign policy aims.

Brazil Energy Markets & Governance

AfricaSource

Feb 7, 2020

Africa’s venture space attracts global interest

By Aubrey Hruby

African startups are on an upward fundraising trend in 2020 and global investors are taking note. Last year the amount of venture capital channeled into African opportunities surpassed the $725.6M raised in 2018 by nearly $500,000. There were over ninety African companies that raised over a million dollars each in 2019, with Nigerian companies attracting the lion’s share of over $650 million.

Africa Economy & Business

MENASource

Feb 7, 2020

Why Arab Sunnis are disengaged from Iraq’s protests

By Tamer Badawi

If Sunni politicians and powerful tribal chiefs back an upheaval in Arab Sunni areas, they would risk losing the political and economic gains realized by their alliance with Iran-backed political powers and could face repression and marginalization.

Iraq Middle East

New Atlanticist

Feb 7, 2020

The Yalta Conference at seventy-five: Lessons from history

By Daniel Fried

One lesson is that core values may have more viability than it seems, especially in the long term: for two generations after 1945, foreign policy professionals and scholars concluded that Roosevelt’s weak defense of Poland at and immediately after Yalta was pointless (or cynical) and that the principles of the Atlantic Charter were inapplicable east of the Iron Curtain. Soviet domination there, it was implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) accepted, was forever. But it turned out otherwise. The Yalta Conference failed but Yalta Europe was not forever. The strategic vision that Roosevelt spelled out in the Atlantic Charter and sought to realize at Yalta—even if miserably—now seems the right one.

Central Europe Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Feb 7, 2020

Sheldon Whitehouse implores US leaders to get serious about carbon capture and climate policy

By Zachary Strauss

US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) blasted the US Government for its delay in implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) legislation and the US Congress for refusing to adopt serious carbon pricing reform during remarks to the Atlantic Council on February 4. Whitehouse rebuked the US Department of the Treasury for dragging its feet on implementing the ”45Q” CCS tax credit.

Climate Change & Climate Action United States and Canada

IranSource

Feb 7, 2020

Sanctions and domestic constraints cripple Iran’s startups

By Mohsen Tavakol

The Iranian startup ecosystem is deteriorating after a boomlet lasting from 2012 - 2016 as sanctions and domestic restrictions create new challenges and force businesses abroad.

UkraineAlert

Feb 6, 2020

Impeachment drama gives Ukraine a US brand boost

By Ostap Yarysh

The impeachment of President Trump is now over but the drama has had a profound impact on US-Ukrainian relations and on American public awareness of Ukraine.

Politics & Diplomacy Ukraine