Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

European Defense Post-QDR

With the recent release of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) from the US Department of Defense there is a need to analyze and create a strategy to deal with the world ahead. On April 16, 2014, a panel of experts on the defense budget and international security discussed the strategy and means by which […]

Beyond data breaches: Global interconnections of cyber risk

By Atlantic Council

Released on April 16, Beyond Data Breaches: Global Interconnections of Cyber Risk, is a year-long study by the Atlantic Council and Zurich Insurance Group that analyzes interrelated cyber hazards and underlying risks, suggesting ways to better prepare governments and businesses for the cyber shocks of the future.

Looking Ahead: Economic and Social Reforms in China

Mr. Liu Mingkang, former chairman of the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission and honorary professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Business, highlighted several important areas for Chinese economic and social reform over the next decade. Speaking at the Atlantic Council on April 16, Liu focused on developments from the Chinese Communist Party’s […]

I am Rwandan

The international community spent last week reflecting on its failure to intervene in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, thrusting Rwanda back into the spotlight at a time when praise for the country’s remarkable economic progress is increasingly tempered by concerns over less progress in the political space. To discuss the country’s achievements and the controversy that […]

Manning and Przystup: Obama-Abe Summit should Overcome Dangerous ‘Mirror-Image Trust Gap’

By Robert A. Manning and James Przystup

As U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gear up for a timely summit, a festering sense of uncertainty and unease stalks the U.S.-Japan alliance as it approaches a critical juncture. After an exciting first year marked by renewed economic dynamism and impressive efforts to enhance Japan’s global strategic posture, Abe’s pragmatic streak […]

Causes and Consequences of Political Islam in Pakistan

Political Islamists, as they currently operate in Pakistan, are “likely to divide our society, break it apart, and cause more violence,” warned Former Pakistan Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States Husain Haqqani. He contended that political Islamists have replaced anthropological and sociological explanations of Islam with “a puritanical formation of Islam, which is essentially […]

Ambassador John Herbst on Ukraine Crisis

By John E. Herbst

Atlantic Council’s New Eurasia Center Director is Former Envoy to Kyiv John Herbst, the newly appointed director of the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, served as the US ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006. Here, he offers an overview of the crisis in Ukraine.

Waiting for the Great Gas Cutoff

By John Roberts

Russia-Ukraine Crisis Is Now Unlikely to Let Russian Gas Keep Flowing Smoothly to Europe  European countries from Germany and Poland to Italy and Turkey now need to ensure they have emergency plans in place to deal with a possible cut-off of Russian gas supplies. At risk are the roughly one-fifth of their supplies delivered via […]

Bitcoin and the Future of Currency

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Pinning down exactly what Bitcoin is like identifying Superman in old comics. Legal, financial, and political experts approach the issue from different angles—labeling Bitcoin into categories which established governments and institutions can understand and control. Meanwhile, technologists and innovators view virtual currencies as nothing less than a […]

Corporate Strategy Forum Discusses Next Military-Industrial Revolution

Three years into an “age of austerity” in Western military spending, expectations are building for a wave of restructuring in the defense industry, similar to what followed the end of the Cold War. Just as before, fundamental change to the context for international security is resetting customers’ expectations, investors’ outlooks, and, in turn, corporate strategies.