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Captains of Industry Series

Dec 15, 2014

Playing the Long Game

By Atlantic Council

On Wednesday, December 10, 2014 the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security hosted Mike Petters, president and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries, for a discussion on the need to plan further ahead in defense-industrial issues. The speech, entitled “Playing the Long Game,” is the latest in the Atlantic Council’s Captains of Industry series, […]

Article

Dec 15, 2014

New strategy unlikely to lift Pyongyang from economic doldrums

By Robert A. Manning

What does the future hold for North Korea? In 2013 North Korean Kim Jong-un proclaimed a national strategy he called byungjin (“parallel strategy”) – simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and the economy. He has raised expectations among North Korea’s 24 million citizens that he will lead the nation to prosperity.

China
Korea

Article

Dec 15, 2014

Column: US Falls Short on Human Rights

By Barbara Slavin

On the same day that the Senate Intelligence Committee released its blockbuster report on CIA interrogation practices after 9-11, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation declaring December 10 “Human Rights Day.”

International Organizations
Iran

Event Recap

Dec 15, 2014

25 Years of Transition:Post-Communist Europe’s Economic Transformation

Aasim M. Husain, deputy director of the International Monetary Fund’s European Department, the ambassadors of Poland and Latvia, and other leading analysts discussed the Ukraine conflict and the economic transitions in Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall during an Atlantic Council forum that served as the US debut of an IMF special […]

Corporate Strategy Forum

Dec 12, 2014

Innovation in Air Force Acquisition

By Atlantic Council

On Thursday, December 11, 2014, the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security welcomed William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, and Ted Harshberger, vice president and director of Project AIR FORCE at the Rand Corporation. The topic of conversation was on “Innovation in Air Force Acquisition.” This was the latest event of […]

Event Recap

Dec 11, 2014

What Do the Presidential Elections Mean for Tunisia’s Future?

By Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East

On December 21, Tunisians will cast their ballots in the runoff presidential election between Interim President Moncef Marzouki and Nidaa Tounes leader Beji Caid Essebsi. The landmark vote will close the first chapter of a delicate political transition, but perhaps more importantly, will mark the beginning of real governance challenges.

Elections
North Africa

Event Recap

Dec 8, 2014

US Ambassador: Ukraine’s Greatest Danger is ‘Business as Usual’

Kyiv’s Implementation of Reform is the Key Step to Stabilize Ukraine, Geoff Pyatt Says As it confronts Russia’s invasion and economic crisis, “the greatest single risk factor facing Ukraine today is business as usual,” US Ambassador Geoff Pyatt told the Atlantic Council today. To stabilize the country, “the political class will have to put aside […]

Ukraine

Article

Dec 4, 2014

Obama needs to act on Syria

By Nicholas Burns

OF ALL the international crises facing President Obama in his final two years in office, how to cope with a burning Iraq and disintegrating Syria may be the most daunting. Syria, especially, is facing the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world today.

Iraq
Syria

Event Recap

Dec 4, 2014

Adapting Intelligence for New National Security Challenges

By Atlantic Council

In his first public event, the new chairman of the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) Dr. Gregory F. Treverton went over a wide range of policy hot topics – from challenges in the Middle East to building governance structures that can handle cyberspace – that benefit from high quality, current intelligence. As the moderator for […]

Intelligence
National Security

Article

Dec 4, 2014

New Iraqi-Kurdish Agreement Bolsters National Unity

By Barbara Slavin

Iraq’s chances of remaining a unitary state increased significantly with the signing of a new oil and budget agreement between the Baghdad government and the Kurds. Building on a partial deal reached last month that permitted the Kurds to legally sell 150,000 barrels of oil a day through a pipeline to Turkey, the new agreement […]

Iraq