Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

Asia’s Looming Power Shift

By Rajan Menon

CARTOGRAPHICAL CONCEPTIONS of Asia obscure what, in strategic terms, is a “Greater Asia.” It stretches from eastern Iran through Central Asia and South Asia to Indonesia, and from the Aleutian Islands to Australia, encompassing the Russian Far East, China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is connected by multifarious transactions, cooperative and adversarial, […]

Experts Highlight Reasons and Implications for Intervention in Syria

Multiple reports have indicated that a US-led Western coalition will strike Syrian military targets “as early as Thursday.” The Obama administration is discussing multiple considerations and contingencies in regard to how it should approach the response to the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, Syria. To discuss these considerations and their implications for Syria, the war, […]

The Political Economy of Pakistan’s National Energy Policy

By Asif Faiz

As Pakistan’s government was preparing to present the National Energy Policy 2013-18 to the Council of Common Interest (CCI), the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) was placing advertisements in major newspapers in KP during the holy month of Ramadan, exhorting the faithful that stealing electricity is a sin. Seeking divine help may now be the […]

Cross-Straits Series: The Coming Asian Arms Race?

According to an IHS Jane’s study, defense spending in the Asia-Pacific will overtake North American defense budgets by 2021. What are the strategic implications of this expenditure rise? What is the US role to be in this militarizing region? On August 22, 2013, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security held a panel […]

Strategy Session with Denmark’s Minister of Defense Wammen

On August 22, the Atlantic Council hosted an off-the-record strategy session with H.E. Nicolai Wammen, the newly appointed Minister of Defense of Denmark.

Linking Archduke Ferdinand’s Assasination with the Navy’s Future

By Harlan Ullman

This article is adapted from a speech to the United States Navy Strategic Discussion Group on August 21, 2013. This dialogue is vital and while tonight’s topic is “Too Many Archdukes, Too Many Bullets,” I will manfully try to focus on what this means for the Pentagon and for maritime and naval forces. The headline […]

Iran’s Oil Minister Confronts Sanctions

By Sara Vakhshouri

The man appointed to run the most vital ministry in the Iranian government has more than three decades of experience in the inner sinews of the Islamic Republic, with a track record of turning limitations into opportunities and using less confrontational rhetoric than other Iranian officials.

Stability or Democracy: What Do Gulf States Want for Egypt?

In an event moderated by Hariri Center Senior Fellow Richard LeBaron, journalist and commentator Sultan al-Qassemi and Hani Sabra, director for Middle East at the Eurasia Group analyzed Gulf state priorities towards Egypt in light of the turbulent changes taking place after Mohamed Morsi’s ouster.