Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

Disrupting Geopolitics

By Mark Revor

Mathew Burrows, Andrew Hoehn, and Moisés Naím joined moderator Francis Rose of Federal News Radio for Disrupting Geopolitics, the second panel of Atlantic Council’s Disrupting Defense conference. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opened the conference, highlighting the challenges of today’s geopolitical environment from a military perspective, stating that the application […]

Dempsey Calls for Innovation in Defense

By James Hasik

Keynote Address by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey Today, General Dempsey noted, is the forty-ninth anniversary of the founding of the long-defunct Warsaw Pact. Back then, in 1955, he was three years old. In 1975, as he noted, the Dempsey went to Germany to patrol the Czech border as a […]

Yemen Policy Initiative Briefs Incoming US Ambassador to Yemen

On May 14, the Yemen Policy Initiative chaired by Danya Greenfield hosted a private briefing for the incoming US ambassador to Yemen, Amb. Matthew Tueller. The group discussed the challenges facing Yemen and the role the United States should play in helping the transition proceed. In particular, group members underscored the need for  increased US […]

Pakistan’s Bilateral and Regional Trade Priorities

“Pakistan’s bilateral and regional trade priorities are to trade more. Our belief is that Pakistan’s economy cannot grow if it won’t open up to the neighbors,” stated Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan. Speaking at a South Asia Center discussion, the Minister argued that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is “committed to resolving long standing issues […]

A Twenty-Year Truce Has Brought No Peace in Nagorno-Karabakh

By Sabine Freizer

One of Europe’s Most Persistent Conflicts Simmers on in Ukraine’s Shadow Twenty years after Armenians and Azerbaijanis signed a truce in their war over Nagorno-Karabakh, almost no subsequent progress has been made in settling what is one of Europe’s most persistent remaining conflicts. Instead, especially in the past few years, sniper attacks, shelling and land […]

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister: Separatists’ Referendum Bid Will Yield No Result

The plan by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine to hold a referendum Sunday on secession amounts to “actions by some isolated groups” that will yield “no result,” Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danylo Lubkivsky said in an online discussion with the Atlantic Council. “The so-called terrorist referendum, [is] illegal, and of course there are no conditions […]

President Jarba Visits the Council

By The Atlantic Council

On May 8, 2014, the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted President Ahmad Jarba of the Syrian National Coalition and his delegation for a private, off-the-record discussion.

The Future of FATA

“FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan) is often portrayed as an incubator of terror and violence that threatens the entire stability of the region,” stated Faiysal AliKhan speaking at a South Asia Center event on May 8, but a danger exists in discussing a single solution for the region as a whole, given the […]

Iraq’s Post-Election Environment: A Preliminary Assessment

Following Iraq’s April 30 parliamentary elections, the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted a discussion on implications of the latest round of voting on Iraq’s future. Atlantic Council Executive Vice President Damon Wilson moderated a discussion with Ambassador James Jeffrey, the former US envoy to Iraq, and Ambassador Feisal Istrabadi, who was previously […]