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New Atlanticist

May 4, 2018

Trump’s Iran Nuke Deal Decision Could Impact North Korea Summit, Says US Senator Markey

By Rachel Ansley

US President Donald J. Trump’s decision on the fate of the Iran nuclear deal will be an important factor in determining the outcome of his highly anticipated summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a Democratic US senator said at the Atlantic Council in Washington on May 4. Pulling the United States out of the […]

Korea

SyriaSource

May 4, 2018

Iran-Israel Proxy War Heats Up in Syria

By Mona Alami

On the night of April 29, air strikes targeting Syrian military positions in Hama and Aleppo reportedly hit two Iran-linked bases resulting in a giant explosion measuring 2.6 on the Richter scale. According to a former head of military intelligence, this indicates the target may have been a weapons depot that was highly explosive, stating […]

Syria
SyriaWhiteHelmetsFeature

New Atlanticist

May 4, 2018

Why It’s A Bad Idea To Abandon The White Helmets In Syria

By Nabeel A. Khoury

Barack Obama had an opinion in 2011 on who should win the contest between the Syrian opposition and Bashar al-Assad’s regime when he said Assad should “step aside.” He did not, however, wish to back up that opinion with troops on the ground or significant assistance to the opposition. As a result, Russia and Iran […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

May 4, 2018

Are Israel And Iran Headed To War?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Early in the morning on April 9, missiles streaked through the Syrian sky toward the Tiyas (T-4) air base in Homs province, northeast of Damascus. Besides Syrian forces, the base hosts Russians and Iranians, members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force. Several Iranians were killed in the strikes. Syria, Russia, and Iran […]

Iran Israel

IranSource

May 4, 2018

What Washington’s Iran Policy Debate Misses: the Iranian People

By Sina Toossi

The dominant view in Washington since the 1979 Islamic revolution – with brief interruptions especially under the Clinton and Obama administrations – has been that Iran represents an irreconcilable challenge to US interests in the Middle East and must be countered with all tools of power, including sanctions and threats of war. Influencing the debates […]

Iran

UkraineAlert

May 4, 2018

Why the Bucharest Summit Still Matters Ten Years On

By Walter Zaryckyj

A decade ago, I received a four word message from a close German acquaintance who had accompanied Chancellor Angela Merkel to the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, that was tasked to decide whether to provide Georgia and Ukraine with a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP). It read: “Yes, but not now!” Having just seen a […]

Moldova Russia

IranSource

May 3, 2018

Little Fires Everywhere: The Middle East After Trump’s Iran Deal Decision

By Richard LeBaron

The best-selling novel “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng provides an apt title for the next book in the long-running non-fiction history of Middle East conflicts—that which will come after US President Donald J. Trump moves to modify or nullify the Iran nuclear agreement. Those fires, not so little for those directly affected, are burning […]

Iran

UkraineAlert

May 3, 2018

The Window for Reform May Be Closing in Ukraine, But It’s Still Wide Open in Kyiv

By Diane Francis

Countries like Ukraine, afflicted with systemic corruption, need new leaders at the top, but also those willing to engage in erecting bulwarks against graft at the local level. And while the president and parliament disappoint and foot drag on implementing major revolutionary reforms, real change at the Kyiv City Council, the biggest local government in […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 3, 2018

Little Fires Everywhere: The Middle East After Trump’s Iran Deal Decision

By Richard LeBaron

The best-selling novel “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng provides an apt title for the next book in the long-running non-fiction history of Middle East conflicts—that which will come after US President Donald J. Trump moves to modify or nullify the Iran nuclear agreement. Those fires, not so little for those directly affected, are burning […]

Iran Middle East

New Atlanticist

May 3, 2018

Protests in Armenia: Democratic Death Throes or a New Dawn?

By Andrew R. Novo

Days after a wave of protests won an enormous (and unlikely) victory by forcing the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargysan, his Republican Party still seems reluctant to let their grip on power slip away. Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan could be confirmed as the new prime minister in a parliamentary vote on May 8. […]

The Caucasus