Content

Issue Brief

Sep 25, 2015

Nordic-Baltic Security and the US Role

By Mark Seip

Read the Issue Brief (PDF) The United States and the Nordic states enjoy a strong, productive relationship. However, stability in the Nordic-Baltic area is under increasing stress, which has implications for both NATO and its partner members, Finland and Sweden. In “Nordic-Baltic Security and the US Role,” the Atlantic Council’s US Navy Senior Fellow Mark […]

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment

Report

Sep 16, 2015

China’s evolving role in Latin America: Can it Be a win-win?

By Enrique Dussel Peters

Weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with President Barack Obama in Washington, the Atlantic Council’s Latin America Center launched a new report that unravels the complexities of the Latin America-China relationship. Titled China’s Evolving Role in Latin America: Can it Be a Win-Win?, the report provides five recommendations to help both China and Latin […]

China

Report

Sep 14, 2015

NATO’s new strategy: stability generation

By Franklin D. Kramer, Hans Binnendijk, and Daniel S. Hamilton

The new threat landscape the transatlantic community faces means that NATO must adapt its strategy to remain relevant. While many transatlantic policymakers and thought leaders have called for a new strategy for NATO, few have outlined what that strategy should actually entail. This report proposes that NATO adopt a new strategy called “Stability Generation,” built […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Issue Brief

Sep 14, 2015

Iran debates its regional role

By Nasser Hadian

Concerns in the United States and its traditional Middle Eastern allies about Iran’s expanding regional role in the aftermath of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached between Iran and the P5+1 on July 14, 2015, fail to take into consideration a significant debate within the Iranian policy elite. In “Iran Debates Its Regional […]

Iran

Issue Brief

Sep 10, 2015

Energy sanctions and Russia: What comes next?

By Adnan Vatansever

The West has responded to the Kremlin's increasingly bellicose policy in the former Soviet space by imposing punitive measures against Russia's energy sector. The immediate impact of such measures appears limited as neither oil nor gas flowing from Russia is expected to suffer right away. However, the sanctions' long-term implications may prove more important.

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

Report

Sep 10, 2015

Risk Nexus: Overcome by cyber risks? Economic benefits and costs of alternate cyber futures

By Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, Zurich Insurance Group, and The University of Denver's Pardee Center on International Futures

In 2030, will the Internet and related information and communications technologies (ICTs) continue to drive global innovation and prosperity? Or will that bright promise be swamped by an unstable and insecure Internet, so overwhelmed by non-stop attacks that it has become an increasing drag on economic growth? The answers, as far as we can predict, […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

Issue Brief

Sep 2, 2015

Toward a sustainable peace in the South China Sea

By Wei-Teh Li

This issue brief argues that SCS countries need to work toward a "mutual confidence" and "mutual dependence" end state. In particular, the paper focuses on sharing meteorological data to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, including search and rescue operations, foreign disaster relief goods delivery, and medical care.

China Indo-Pacific

Issue Brief

Sep 2, 2015

Seizing local opportunities in Syria

By Bassam Barabandi and Faysal Itani

Despite the many external players involved, the Syrian war is ultimately a local conflict. In “Seizing Local Opportunities in Syria,” authors Faysal Itani of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center and Co-Founder of People Demand Change Bassam Barabandi identify three opportunities on the ground for the United States to develop partnerships with segments of the […]

Syria

Report

Aug 5, 2015

Human rights abuses in Russia-occupied Crimea

By Andrii Klymenko

The “green men” who fanned out across Crimea in early 2014, establishing control over key infrastructure and clearing the way for once-marginal political actors to seize the reins of power, were the vanguard of a forced political change that has led to grave human rights abuses across the Crimean peninsula. Firmly in control of the executive and law enforcement bodies, […]

Conflict English

Issue Brief

Jul 31, 2015

To vote or not to vote: Examining the disenfranchised in Egypt’s political landscape

By Sarah Sirgany

The postponement of parliamentary elections in Egypt, scheduled for March 2015, marked a setback in the country’s democratic political process. Electoral politics are effectively on hold. Meanwhile, Muslim Brotherhood supporters have adopted a violent confrontational strategy toward the state, secular opposition parties are increasingly ineffectual, and voter fatigue remains a serious dilemma. In “To Vote […]

North Africa