Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

Crafting Public Diplomacy for an Urbanized World

On March 20, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, in partnership with the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, hosted a roundtable focusing on the future of public diplomacy in the context of global trends. Titled Crafting Public Diplomacy for an Urbanized World, the roundtable examined how the US government, through public […]

NATO Secretary General Discusses Ukraine Crisis, Wales Summit with the Atlantic Council

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen discussed the crisis in Ukraine and the preparations for the upcoming NATO summit in Wales with members of the Atlantic Council and the Washington, DC security and policy community in a working breakfast on March 19, 2014. The event was moderated by Frederick Kempe, president and CEO of the […]

Charting NATO’s Next Chapter: From Afghanistan to Ukraine and Beyond

As NATO charts plans for its coming drawdown in Afghanistan and its future beyond the 2014 Summit, Russia will loom large on NATO’s agenda as the unfolding crisis in Ukraine alters US and European strategies. At the same time, NATO must confront a dearth of political and financial investment, threats emanating from Asia, the Middle […]

Amid Russia’s Assault, Ukraine’s New Government Focuses on Reform

By Sabine Freizer

While Russia’s takeover of Crimea has dealt a heavy blow in Kyiv, the young Ukrainian government is nonetheless pressing to pass large-scale reforms. Late last week, deputy education minister Inna Sovsun sighed in frustration as she described layers of corruption in a school system where apparently everything had been up for sale. Under President Viktor […]

Geopolitics 101: History Matters

By Harlan Ullman

As President Vladimir Putin moves to consolidate Russian autonomy over Crimea with a referendum, the West continues to struggle to find acceptable policies to reverse or punish this encroachment. Short of a military response that would be profoundly reckless and exceedingly dangerous, in these policy deliberations by the West led by Washington, history seems to […]

Financial Sector Highlighted in Fifth Cyber Risk Wednesday

The fifth Cyber Risk Wednesday, a monthly series organized by the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, discussed the NIST framework’s impacts on the financial sector, the general risk environment, strengths and challenges, and mitigation methods currently in place. The discussion featured a well-balanced panel of speakers with experts from large financial institutions, small and community banking institutions, and government.

This is Egypt: New Voices, Untold Stories

Since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, a wave of nationalist fervor has swept over Egypt. Calls for Defense Minister Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi to run for president grow while the state has largely silenced dissident political voices throughout the country. The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted a panel […]

Spotlight Chile | March 18

By Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center

Will Chile ratify a new constitution during the second Bachelet presidency? This months’ Spotlight explores three scenarios. President Michelle Bachelet of the Socialist Party-led New Majority coalition took office for her second four-year term on March 11. She has proposed a broad agenda of educational, electoral, and other constitutional reforms. Bachelet is also seeking to […]