Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

The Africa Center Hosts Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Mohamed Abdalla

By Africa Center

On Wednesday, January 29, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted Sudanese Foreign Minister H.E. Asma Mohamed Abdalla. Director of Programs and Studies and Deputy Director of the Africa Center Bronwyn Bruton provided opening remarks and welcomed Abdalla to the Atlantic Council. Abdalla outlined the priorities of Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government, emphasizing the need to make […]

The 5×5—The 2010s: A cyber decade in review

By Simon Handler

The past ten years have, among other things, witnessed the most-costly cyberattack on record, the discovery of a computer worm capable of wreaking physical destruction, and USCYBERCOM’s elevation to unified combatant command status. As we turn the page to 2020, we’re looking back to recap the most significant, overblown, and emergent cyber incidents of the decade.

Congressional Hearing – “Life Under Occupation: The State of Human Rights in Crimea”

By Atlantic Council

Melinda Haring, deputy director at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, testifies before an Helsinki Commission hearing on Kremlin's human rights violations on the Crimean Peninsula since its illegal annexation in 2014.

Warring for the soul of the internet: Ten years on

By Trey Herr, Justin Sherman

The new reality is one where democracies must play a more assertive role to protect an open, free, fair, and secure internet, utilizing a strategy that recognizes the changes the internet has undergone, the pernicious influence of authoritarian states, and the role companies have in both protecting and fragmenting it. The internet can’t be brought back in time but there is hope, perhaps, that its original core values can be preserved in a new form through determined effort by its users, some companies, and the democratic states where the open web was born.

Revamping antitrust in the digital era

By Emma Martinez Daniel

As technology permeates virtually every aspect of society, antitrust legislation must adapt to account for the digital threats to consumer welfare.

“Go forth and set the world on fire”

As the world rages around the raging fires, I have to wonder: Is this the moment where we will finally see the forest for the trees? Why are we continuing to look into a crystal ball, as if the climate crisis is somehow our future, when it’s so glaringly clear that it is our present?

Think again

By John E. Herbst

In a recent National Interest article, George Beebe dismisses US policy on Ukraine as “steeped in illusions” and argues for a “sensible alternative.” It is a nice try, but what he comes up with does not pass muster.

Stemming Maduro’s Illicit Activities: What’s Next After the Jan. 5 Elections?

By Pablo Reynoso

Beyond hyperinflation and human rights abuses, the Maduro regime has diversified its criminal portfolio and profited from a host of illicit activities, from drug smuggling to illegal mining.

Congressional hearing – “US-Iran tensions: implications for homeland security”

By Atlantic Council

The Committee meeting examined the homeland security implications of the recent escalation in US-Iran tensions in the wake of the killing of Qasem Soleimani. Witnesses were given time to present opening statements to address possible retaliation followed by questions posed by committee members. Nonresident Senior Fellow Thomas S. Warrick presented four ways in which Iran threatens the homeland: terrorism, cyber-attacks, disinformation, and influence operations. Warrick underscored the imminent threat posed by Iranian cyber-attacks, “Mr. Chairman, the possibility of a terrorist attack by Iran here in the homeland is that, a possibility, but cyber-attacks are a certainty.”