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SyriaSource

Apr 1, 2019

The potential loss of refugee status for Palestinian-Syrians in Afrin

By Musaab Balchi

A new documentation system in the Turkish-administrated region in northern Aleppo designed for security and administrative purposes seems to ignore the legal status of local residents; many of which are internally displaced peoples (IDP)s that are Syrian or Palestinian. The system raises concerns from displaced Palestinian refugees about their internationally recognized legal refugee status and their ability to preserve their Palestinian identity within the larger Syrian population.

Syria

NATOat70

Apr 1, 2019

NATO Engages: The Alliance at 70

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The Atlantic Council will co-host a daylong conference celebrating seventy years of the NATO alliance.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Apr 1, 2019

Ukraine’s presidential election: How a comic secured the most votes and won a ticket to round two

By David A. Wemer

The top two vote-getters, incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and TV comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy will face off again in a two-way contest on April 21.

Elections Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Apr 1, 2019

What makes an ally? Sweden and Finland as NATO partners

By Anna Wieslander

Hesitation toward Alliance membership has not prevented Sweden or Finland from closer cooperation with NATO on territorial defense.

NATO NATO Partnerships

IranSource

Apr 1, 2019

Iran-North Korea relationship reflects failed US policies

By Mintaro Oba

Before he was Iran’s Supreme Leader, then-President Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visited North Korea in 1989—a trip that included a ride on the Pyongyang subway and a motorcade ride past throngs of cheering North Koreans. It was intended to send a strong message: North Korea and Iran, driven by mutual enmity toward the United States, were becoming close friends.

Iran Korea

New Atlanticist

Apr 1, 2019

NATO membership for Cyprus. Yes, Cyprus.

By Damon Wilson

With NATO membership built into any settlement, Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, along with Athens and Ankara, and in partnership with all of their European partners and NATO allies, might have more confidence in striking a deal.

Greece NATO

IranSource

Mar 30, 2019

Iran’s Hurricane Katrina moment

By Borzou Daragahi

Iranian authorities barred international journalists from covering the disastrous floods that have stricken most of the country’s provinces and caused death and mayhem during the normally festive two-week Nowruz holidays that follow the Iranian new year.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2019

North Macedonia negates NATO skeptics

By Teri Schultz

The price of compromising was high — many citizens remain opposed to it — but the cost of not doing so, the government concluded, would have been infinitely higher. Radmila Šekerinska, the defense minister of North Macedonia, is unapologetic about that decision.

Greece NATO

UkraineAlert

Mar 29, 2019

Whoever wins Ukraine’s presidential race, Russia has already lost

By Peter Dickinson

It’s election season on Kremlin TV, but the presidential campaign receiving wall-to-wall coverage from Russia’s federal channels is taking place across the border in Ukraine. This is hardly surprising. Moscow’s obsession with all things Ukrainian is well-documented and reflects the centrality of information operations to Vladimir Putin’s five-year hybrid war against Ukraine. What’s interesting about […]

Conflict Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2019

Russia ups the ante in Venezuela

By Ashish Kumar Sen

“Maduro’s survival gives Russia a foothold in the Americas,” explained Jason Marczak.

Russia Venezuela