Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

After Nabucco – Croatia to the Rescue of Central Europe’s Energy Security?

By David Koranyi, Ian Brzezinski, and Matthew Bryza

The decision of the Shah Deniz consortium last June to move forward with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) that will bring Azeri natural gas to Europe brought to life the vision of the Southern Gas Corridor that will help diversify Europe’s sources of natural gas. At first glance, it would appear that by selecting TAP over […]

The Nordic-Baltic Region as a Global Partner of the United States

By Damon Wilson and Magnus Nordenman

In “The Nordic-Baltic Region as a Global Partner of the United States,” Atlantic Council Executive Vice President Damon Wilson and Scowcroft Center Deputy Director Magnus Nordenman analyze the significance of the growing trend of Nordic and Baltic cooperation. First written in September 2011, the authors called then for President Obama to agree to meet his Nordic […]

NATO Partnerships in Asia: Allied and Regional Perspectives

On August 28, the Atlantic Council and NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) hosted an off-the-record roundtable discussion.

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 […]