Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

Corporate Strategy Forum: Defense Management and Industrial Challenges

The Atlantic Council Corporate Strategy Forum met on Tuesday, July 15, for discussion on “Defense Management and Industrial Challenges” with Arnold Punaro, chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), and Brett Lambert, a senior fellow at NDIA.

US Ambassador James Dobbins Briefs Atlantic Council on Afghan Crisis

As Afghanistan undergoes a critical stage of its political transition, Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins visited the Atlantic Council on July 11 to provide an off-the-record analysis of the current impasse over the country’s election results. The dispute over the results between the two candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, stems from […]

Europe’s New Energy Security Strategy

On July 11th, the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center held an off-the-record strategy session with H.E. Vaclav Bartuska, Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Security, Czech Republic. Ambassador John Herbst, Director of the Center, introduced the Ambassador and moderated the discussion.

Political Economy of Subsidy Reforms in MENA: Progress and Challenges

There is a growing consensus that there is urgent need for a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to undertake subsidy reforms, mainly because of the costly and distortive nature of energy subsidies. On Thursday, July 10, 2014, in partnership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Atlantic Council’s Rafik […]

Carl Bildt at the Atlantic Council: Facing a Revisionist Russia

During his July 8 visit to the Atlantic Council, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt declared that “these are not easy times” for the transatlantic partners, as they face “a more assertive China,” new areas of terrorism threatening Africa, and a Middle East “engulfed by new sectarian divisions.” Speaking to a packed audience of foreign policy […]

Testimony Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

By Stephen J. Hadley

The following is the prepared remarks of Atlantic Council Board Director Stephen J. Hadley before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 9 about Russia and the ongoing developments in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Army Now Holds Two-Thirds of Donbas, Senior Security Official Says

Kyiv Official Thanks US for Food Rations and Vests, Says Ukraine Needs Sanctions on Russia Ukrainian troops now control two-thirds of the country’s Donbas region, a top Ukrainian security official says, nine days after they resumed their counter-offensive against Russian-backed insurgents. Ukraine’s military “will continue to tighten the containment” of the separatist militias, and will […]