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New Atlanticist

Aug 8, 2018

The Russia-Georgia War: Not Frozen and Not Forgotten

By Alexandra Hall Hall

On the tenth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Georgia, it is essential not to forget the ongoing human, security, political, and economic impact both of that war, and of Georgia’s underlying unresolved conflicts with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Nothing brings home the cost of war better than meeting some of its […]

Russia The Caucasus

UkraineAlert

Aug 8, 2018

In Ukraine, Attacks on Civil Society Spread to the Regions

By Yevhen Bystrytsky

Just about everyone credits Ukraine’s persistent activists for almost every reform win since 2014. But four years after the Maidan, the public demand to put corrupt officials behind bars remains unanswered. Does that mean that civil society and the energy of the Maidan have reached their limits? It means just the opposite, actually. Resistance to […]

Ukraine

SyriaSource

Aug 8, 2018

Is Syria lost to Iran?

By Frederic C. Hof

The short answer is “No.” A family and an entourage that placed itself at the disposal of Iran while burning much of Syria to the ground will not prevail, provided the United States and its partners begin to push back. Yet termites are at work, and the fulfillment of this proviso is far from certain.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Aug 8, 2018

Turkey and Black Sea Security: Ten Years After the War in Georgia

By Dimitar Bechev

The 2008 war between Georgia and Russia was a critical test for Turkey. It highlighted Ankara’s delicate balancing act between the West and Russia, one that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is still pursuing today. The conflict presented a formidable challenge. Georgia was not just another neighbor for Turkey – the two countries had built robust […]

Russia The Caucasus

IranSource

Aug 8, 2018

Why Iran and the United States Should Negotiate

By Mehran Haghirian

The telephone conversation between Presidents Hassan Rouhani and Barack Obama in 2013, the numerous talks between Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif during two years of nuclear negotiations, and a multilateral meeting last year that included Zarif and then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, demolished many taboos in regard to […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2018

A Decade After War With Russia, Georgia Continues its Path Westward

By Mary Trichka and Margaret Meiman

The Russo-Georgian War lasted a brief five days, but its impact is still felt deeply in Georgia and throughout the region. Ten years later, Russia exerts ever-growing influence on Georgia, occupying one-fifth of the country’s territory – the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia – and using this position to project its power throughout […]

Russia The Caucasus

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2018

Britain Will Remain A Global Power After Brexit, UK Defense Minister Says

By David Wemer

“Brexit is Britain’s moment to look up, be more ambitious, and redefine our place in the world,” United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence, Gavin Williamson, said on August 7. Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Williamson sought to assure those “worrying about Brexit and what role Britain will play in the world,” that […]

United Kingdom

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2018

Why Ukraine Is Reappearing on US Investors’ Radar Screens

By Andy Hunder

When I was an eight-year-old boy growing up in London in the late 1970s, my schoolteacher asked our class to show on the map where in Britain our parents were born. When it was my turn, I walked to the other side of the blackboard where the world map hung and proudly exclaimed that my […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2018

Enlarge NATO to Ensure Peace in Europe

By Damon Wilson and David J. Kramer

Exactly ten years ago, Russian forces attacked Georgia, bringing to a violent end a nearly two-decade long advance of a Europe whole and free. In the wake of NATO’s failure to agree on how to advance the membership aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine at its Bucharest Summit months earlier, Moscow acted to block those prospects […]

Russia The Balkans

UkraineAlert

Aug 7, 2018

Which New US Sanctions on Russia Are Likely?

By Anders Åslund

The US Congress has prepared numerous bills proposing new sanctions on Russia. Congress reacted sharply against President Donald Trump’s desire to ease existing sanctions. On July 28, 2017, the Senate voted 98-2 for the Combating America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which Trump quietly signed into law. CAATSA legislated already adopted sanctions on Russia, so […]

Russia