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New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2019

Getting peace right in Afghanistan: A political solution to a military problem

By Thang Tran, Leo Blanken, and Philip Swintek

The path to the end of the conflict in Afghanistan will be political and it will be in the hands of the Afghans.

Afghanistan Conflict

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2019

Belarus’ balancing act

By David A. Wemer

Belarus' deputy foreign minister stated that Minsk’s desire is “to be friends with everybody, including the Euro-Atlantic community.”

Belarus

IranSource

Jan 31, 2019

Facing Reality: Europe’s Special Purpose Vehicle Will Not Challenge US Sanctions

By Brian O'Toole

The European Union on January 31 formally announced its long-awaited special purpose vehicle (SPV) for trade with Iran, called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).  Predictably, the SPV won’t seek to challenge US sanctions by attempting to conduct sanctionable trade with Iran as had been originally floated, and will instead focus on non-sanctionable trade, including […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2019

New Venezuela sanctions need timely results

By Samantha Sultoon

One lesson of sanctions policy is that sanctions can work, but rarely on an ambitious timetable.

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion Venezuela

IranSource

Jan 31, 2019

Beyond Westoxification and Orientalism: How to read Iranian politics

By Giorgia Perletta

Using fixed categories to describe Iranian politics is often a risk. Western readings are frequently imbued with misconceptions and prejudices due to an Orientalist approach. At the same time, the official narrative of the Islamic Republic reflects a self-representation in conscious reaction to Western views of Iran. These two readings clash with each other at […]

Iran

UkraineAlert

Jan 31, 2019

Ukraine Needs Carrots and Sticks to Fight Corruption

By Oleksandr Danylyuk

There is no silver bullet when it comes to defeating systemic corruption in any country. Despite many opportunities, Ukraine has failed to achieve economic success due to its entrenched corruption which offsets the positive effects from many of the hard-earned and difficult reforms we have implemented since independence.

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2019

Can Theresa May change Brussels’ mind?

By David A. Wemer

The reaction in Europe to May’s latest attempts to achieve revision of the Withdrawal Agreement "was one of exasperation," Bart Oosterveld said.

European Union United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2019

The US-China feud is about much more than trade

By Barbara C. Matthews

With the ninety-day negotiating window quickly running out and with expected February action by the United States regarding foreign automobile tariffs, the stakes are high.

China Trade and tariffs

SyriaSource

Jan 30, 2019

Consequences of the HTS take-over in northwest Syria

By Phillip James Walker, Esq.

While the Trump administration’s flip-flops on Syria and the looming withdrawal of US personnel from the country's northeast have rightly drawn a great deal of public attention, important developments have simultaneously unfolded without much notice in the northwest. Specifically, while all eyes have been on the territories held by the Kurds and their allies to the east, the Salafist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia has seized control of Idlib province and the adjacent opposition-held portions of western Aleppo and northern Hama, routing the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLF).

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2019

Venezuela’s interim government shuns Maduro’s offer of dialogue

By Ashish Kumar Sen

"The only thing we will accept is our agenda: how do we negotiate his exit?" says Carlos Vecchio, Juan Guaidó’s representative in Washington.

Venezuela
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