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UkraineAlert

Jul 26, 2018

Why Is Ukraine Giving Fugitive Oligarch Dmytro Firtash a $1 Billion Windfall?

By Oleksandr Kharchenko

Editor’s note: On July 27, it was announced that implementation of the gas transportation system code has been delayed until October 1. The problems that Kharchenko outlines below with the new code still apply.  Christmas comes early this year for Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash. On August 1, the tycoon may pocket about $1 billion through […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jul 26, 2018

In Pakistan, It’s Imran Khan’s Turn to Bat

By James Schwemlein

The apparent victory of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the July 25 parliamentary election marks a new inflection point in Pakistan’s politics and external policies.  This election, though marred by allegations of tampering and violence, marks Pakistan’s second consecutive transition from one civilian-led government to another through an election.  Additionally, PTI’s ascent […]

Pakistan

MENASource

Jul 26, 2018

Prospects for peace in Yemen

By Zara Jayant

As the conflict in Yemen continues and the country’s humanitarian crisis deepens, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, is attempting to negotiate a ceasefire for the port of Hodeida, a vital port for bringing aid and food into the famine-struck country. Earlier this month, the Saudi-led coalition began attacking the port city in response […]

Yemen

SyriaSource

Jul 26, 2018

Here’s why Syrian women are integral to peace

By Tamara Alrifai and Rachel Dore-Weeks

Eight years and many conferences into the Syria conflict, Syrian women still struggle to have their voices heard in decision making forums that directly impact them as citizens, and as political, economic, and civil society actors. Syrian women present at the western male-dominated EU-UN conference, Supporting Syria and the Region—known as Brussels II—in April 2018, explicitly spoke to the political processes that failed to include them, and to an aid industry that did not address their needs, including in protection from violence. 

Syria

UkraineAlert

Jul 26, 2018

How to Make Disappointed Ukrainians Believe Again

By Elena Tribushnaya

This month, the Ukrainian magazine Novoye Vremya interviewed fifty experts to assess President Petro Poroshenko’s achievements after four years. The result was a score of just six out of twelve.

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jul 26, 2018

Was the Trump-Juncker Meeting Really a Success?

By David Wemer

US President Donald J. Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker attempted to tamp down trade tensions between the United States and the European Union (EU) in their meeting at the White House on July 25. Juncker pledged that the EU would seek to import more US soybeans, buy more US liquified natural gas (LNG), […]

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

Jul 26, 2018

Why Is Ukraine Still So Poor?

By Basil Kalymon and Oleh Havrylyshyn

Ukraine should have been a prosperous, middle-income country by now. Instead, it is one of the poorest in Europe. Ukrainians are only slightly richer than Moldovans. Since Ukraine’s independence, we, as members of the diaspora, have had a keen interest in the country’s development. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there were great expectations […]

Ukraine

Rebuilding Syria

Jul 25, 2018

What Exactly is the US Policy Toward Iran?

By Faysal Itani

On July 22, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed an audience that included many members of the Iranian diaspora. The speech focused on the Iranian regime as a danger to its own people and to US interests—kleptocratic, terroristic, and totalitarian. The accusations were specific and the language was strong which could indicate a harsh […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jul 25, 2018

Zimbabwe at an Inflection Point

By Ashish Kumar Sen

On July 30, for the first time in more than thirty years, Zimbabweans will vote in a presidential election in which one name will be conspicuously absent from the ballot: Robert Mugabe. Mugabe stepped down in the face of pressure from the military, his party, and the Zimbabwean people on November 21, 2017, even as […]

South & Central Africa

IranSource

Jul 25, 2018

What Exactly is the US Policy Toward Iran?

By Faysal Itani

On July 22, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed an audience that included many members of the Iranian diaspora. The speech focused on the Iranian regime as a danger to its own people and to US interests—kleptocratic, terroristic, and totalitarian. The accusations were specific and the language was strong which could indicate a harsh […]

Iran Syria