Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

Senator Joni Ernst on how to expand cooperation among US allies in the Middle East

By Emily Milliken

Event recap of the N7 Initiative's public event with Senator Joni Ernst

Testimony on Israel and the Middle East at a crossroads: How Tehran’s terror campaign threatens the US and our allies

By Kirsten Fontenrose

Kirsten Fontenrose, nonresident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, testifies before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on how Tehran’s terror campaign threatens the US and allies. Below are her prepared remarks. Chairman Burchett, Ranking Member Phillips, and members of the Committee, thank you […]

As Middle East tensions simmer, the world fixates on the wrong energy market risks

As the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel approaches, governments and industry leaders fear that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz, with serious consequences for energy markets. But this move is highly unlikely. Rather, global leaders should be prepared for energy disruptions in other parts of the region.

After Venezuela’s stolen election, here’s how the US should craft an effective sanctions policy

By David L. Goldwyn

As Venezuela's political crisis worsens, the United States has a role to play in advancing the country’s democratic cause and also inflicting pain on the Maduro regime, while minimizing negative impacts on Venezuelans, the broader region, and US interests. This will require crafting a smart sanctions policy based on lessons learned and five key elements.

The US government should build a Resilient Resource Reserve for wartime and peacetime

By Gregory Wischer and Morgan Bazilian

China currently dominates critical mineral supply chains, putting American security needs at risk. Congress should both incentivize domestic mineral production and mitigate supply disruptions to the US military in a potential conflict with China by building a physical stockpile of strategic minerals that would last for five years.

‘I was a Blackwater mercenary in Iraq’

By Alia Brahimi

Host Alia Brahimi is joined by former Blackwater contractor Morgan Lerette to reflect on Loretta's experience a private military contractor in Iraq.

Chevron deference is dead—and US climate action hangs in the balance

By David L. Goldwyn, Andrea Clabough

The US Supreme Court's seismic decision to overturn Chevron deference ends decades of federal agencies’ regulatory authority to interpret laws’ where there is ambiguity. While not specifically about climate or energy, the change is deeply consequential for the current—and next—administration’s ability to act on these issues according to its agenda.

The future of Europe, Ukraine, and the world order is not yet written, says the US national security advisor

By Atlantic Council

Nothing is inevitable, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at the NATO Public Forum. “It comes down to the choices that we make and the choices that we make together.”

‘I’m an optimist for the future of this Alliance,’ says NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

By Atlantic Council

The outgoing NATO secretary general spoke with Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe at the NATO Public Forum on July 10.

Any attempt to undermine NATO undermines US security, says Lloyd Austin

By Atlantic Council

At the Washington summit, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed NATO’s history and the Alliance’s plans to bolster support for Ukraine.