Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

India and Pakistan: The Opportunity Cost of Conflict

Heavy defense spending and economic non-cooperation between India and Pakistan are detrimental to the welfare of the citizens of the two neighboring countries, argues a report released by the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center on Thursday.

Countering Russian Propaganda: A Strategy Session with Danylo Lubkivsky

On Thursday, April 24 the Council was pleased to host an off-the-record working lunch conversation with Danylo Lubkivsky, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine.

A New Belarus

A Discussion with Belarussian Think Tank Leaders The crisis in Europe’s East has focused attention specifically on Ukraine and Crimea; however, it is important to address the threat that the events in Ukraine pose to the future of other Central and Eastern European countries. In order to provide an outlook on how Russia’s actions in […]

Russian Ex-Prime Minister: Widen Sanctions on Putin’s Elite Allies

Kasyanov Urges West to Urgently Sanction Hundreds of Russian Legislators, Ministers The United States and European governments should expand their prohibitions on travel and financial transactions by domestic political allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, his former prime minister, Mikhail Kasyanov said today. The West should sanction all members of the Russian parliament who voted […]

Working Group on a New US Defense Strategy and Posture in the Gulf

For more than four decades, the United States has had a robust web of partnerships with the states comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This system has helped to achieve common strategic goals, including securing the free and constant flow of oil from the region to the world at large; preventing the rise of a […]

Send-Off Reception for Ambassador Whitaker

The new US Ambassador to Colombia, Kevin Whitaker, is taking over one of the most strategic diplomatic positions in the Western Hemisphere. A key political and economic ally to the United States, Colombia is also an important free-trade partner. Strong democratic institutions and a thriving economy point to a prosperous future, one where Colombia increasingly […]

Was Ukraine Betrayed at Geneva?

By Rajan Menon

The results of last week’s Geneva conference on Ukraine offer a glimmer of hope. We’re a long way from seeing calm return to Ukraine, but the text of the agreement provides the most hopeful sign yet that a Crimea redux, or worse, can be averted in the Donbas, Ukraine’s turbulent, Russophone east. That’s one take […]

Leidos CEO Gen. John Jumper Discusses Defense Industry Evolution

In September last year, the Virginia-based government contracting company SAIC split into two. The government-services wing maintained the SAIC name and the newly-created Leidos was created to focus on national security, commercial health, and the engineering sectors. Gen. John P. Jumper, the first chairman and CEO of Leidos, joined the Atlantic Council to discuss this […]

The Promise of Human Space Exploration

Space exploration captured Americans’ imaginations in the 1960s and became a significant cultural touchstone in American history due to the Apollo programs and that iconic moment when man first walked on the moon in 1969. Lately, this sense of wonder seems to be fading as NASA gets less funding, private industry steps in to fill […]

The End of the Peace Dividend and the Future of Transatlantic Relations

The era of peace in Europe that has lasted 25 years is drawing to an end, according to Poland’s Minister of National Defense Tomasz Siemoniak. In a public speech at the Atlantic Council, Minister Siemoniak discussed the importance of NATO’s ability to react to the ongoing crisis on its eastern flank as the threat from […]