Category: Blogs

Trump Kim-Summit: The Best-Case Scenario

US President Donald J. Trump will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12. Atlantic Council analysts present their views on what they believe to be an achievable, best-case outcome, one that would test North Korea’s readiness for genuine, rapid denuclearization by demanding front-loaded “down payments” during the first twelve months.  

How to Keep the Kremlin and the Oligarchs Out of the Ukrainian White House

By Anders Åslund

The other night in Kyiv, one of Ukraine’s best political analysts came to see me. He asked me what the United States wants in the next Ukrainian presidential election slated for March 2019. I told him that the United States doesn’t have a favorite. Nor will it. My interlocutor was highly dissatisfied with the answer. […]

US-China Cooperation Vital for the Success of Trump-Kim Summit

By Wang Junsheng

When US President Donald J. Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12 it will be due in large part to the close cooperation between the United States and China over the past year. Sino-US cooperation is critical to resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis. Since Trump took office in 2017, […]

US Withdrawal from Iran Deal Hits Young Iranians Hard

By Tahereh Hadian-Jazy

When Iran reached a landmark nuclear agreement with the international community in 2015, Iranian youth were especially happy. After struggling with sanctions and isolation for many years, young people hoped their country was entering a new chapter in which it would be seen as a constructive actor on the international stage. They were proud of […]

Present at the Destruction?

By Frederick Kempe

The crucial question for the Trump era was posed this week by Donald Tusk, the past Polish Prime Minister and current European Council President, whose country sacrificed so much to join the rules-based global order he fears President Trump is endangering.

The Brexit Trap: Checking Out is Easier Than Leaving the EU

By Reginald Dale

Advocates of a “hard” Brexit, granting the United Kingdom full independence from the European Union (EU), are belatedly beginning to understand that the EU is a bit like Hotel California in the famous song by the Eagles—”You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!” As British Prime Minister Theresa May’s […]

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats: Russia is Attempting to Influence US Midterms, Divide Transatlantic Alliance

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Russia is attempting to influence the midterm elections in the United States in November as well as divide the transatlantic alliance, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned at a meeting co-hosted by the Atlantic Council in Normandy, France, on June 8. Coats said Russia had already undertaken an “unprecedented influence campaign to interfere […]

The United States Stands Isolated at a Meeting of its Friends

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Cracks in the United States’ relationships with some of its closest friends and allies were on full display at a meeting of the world’s largest economies in Canada this week. The fissures have been caused by US President Donald J. Trump’s America First approach that has led to the US withdrawal from two multilateral agreements—the […]

Why Internet Freedom in Iran is More Important Than Ever

By Holly Dagres

A female truck driver in a burgundy headscarf stood on the side of a highway to Mashhad, explaining in a video sent to Voice of America Persian that she was joining a truck driver strike. It wasn’t long before the video and others like it caught the attention of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). […]

Lest we forget

By Charles Ebinger

In honor of our nation’s birthday and with the 51st anniversary of the six-day war just behind us, in June 1967, it is imperative that we remember the crew of the USS Liberty, who gave their lives not to a foe, but to an unprovoked attack. A review of this tragic event is hopefully useful […]