On September 13, 2019, the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs and its Global Business Program’s Economic Sanctions Initiative hosted Marshall Billingslea, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorist Financing, for a conversation on Hezbollah and Iran’s illicit financing moderated by Missy Ryan, national security correspondent at The Washington Post. C-SPAN and other outlets covered the event.

“The United States has limited options for non-escalatory intervention,” said Kirsten Fontenrose, a former director for the Persian Gulf region in the Trump National Security Council. Kirsten is now the Director of the Scowcroft Center Middle East Security Initiative.

“I think the Saudis and the Emiratis understand that escalation in the Persian Gulf is going to come at their expense,” says the Atlantic Council’s Slavin. “They have no confidence that the Trump administration knows what it’s doing in pursuing this ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran — so why should they give the green light […]

On September 12, the Scowcroft Center hosted a public event focused on Hong Kong’s current political crisis and the future of China’s sovereign claim over the island territory and its “one country, two systems” formulation. The event featured remarks from Amb. Kurt Tong, the former US Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau, as well […]

On Friday, September 27, the Cyber Statecraft Initiative within the Scowcroft Center hosted the Cyberspace Solarium Commission for one of the largest roundtables the Atlantic Council has ever organized, with more than 40 industry and public sector participants, including former NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis and our own General Cartwright and Frank Kramer. Participants in […]

On September 25, the Eurasia Center hosted a private roundtable with six Ukrainian Members of Parliament (MPs), all of whom sit on the Verkhovna Rada’s Anti-Corruption Policy Committee. The six MPs came from both the Servant of the People and Batkivshchyna parties of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, respectively. The MPs […]

On Monday, September 23, alongside the Atlantic Council’s Global Citizens Awards, the Eurasia Center hosted its biannual Ukraine Strategy Session, a private gathering of Ukraine-focused experts and scholars convened to discuss the most pressing topics pertaining to Ukraine and the US-Ukraine bilateral relationship. Speakers at the strategy session included Atlantic Council Executive Vice President Damon […]

“Giuliani, like Manafort, is well entrenched in Ukraine and has earned big money there. He started traveling to the country in the mid-2000s, when he gave a well-paid speech to an event organized and paid for by Vadim Rabinovich, an old commodity trader with a controversial reputation.” Anders Aslund, Senior Fellow, Eurasia Center

On Thursday, September 19, the Africa Center hosted a private roundtable with H.E. Professor Alpha Condé, president of the Republic of Guinea. Despite international concern over adherence to term limits heading into 2020 elections, President Condé stated that Guinea is “on the right track” and is increasingly a voice that is listened to in Africa […]

On Wednesday, September 18, the Africa Center hosted a private roundtable with H.E. Dominique Ouattara, first lady of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. In her remarks, Madame Ouattara discussed progress and obstacles to eliminating child labor in Côte d’Ivoire, addressing recent calls from Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to put an embargo […]

“In order to meet this historic moment of opportunity, the United States must learn to see beyond the past…That means that for those who care about religious freedom, slavery, human rights, and women’s empowerment, now is the time to call for the removal of sanctions.” Cameron Hudson, Senior Fellow, Africa Center

On Monday, September 23, eight Millennium Fellows from the 2017 and 2019 classes joined Ms. Ebru Özdemir, FEI Director Mr. Ben Haddad and Atlantic Council Executive Vice President Mr. Damon Wilson for an informative moderated discussion with Minister Nikola Dimitrov. The Minister discussed the challenges faced during the name change and provided our Fellows invaluable […]

On Monday, September 23, fourteen Millennium Fellows from the 2018 and 2019 classes joined the Atlantic Council for the tenth anniversary of the Global Citizen Awards. Millennium Fellows had the pleasure of joining tables with DFR Lab, the Middle East Programs, the Global Energy Center, and Goldman Sachs, among others. In attendance from the 2018 […]

Together with the Middle East Programs, we hosted a public forum event on September 13th featuring Marshall Billingslea, the Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorist Financing. The conversation with Mr. Billingslea was moderated by Missy Ryan, a national security correspondent at The Washington Post. The discussion focused on Iran’s and its illicit financial networks that support […]

On September 19th, GBE’s Economic Sanctions Initiative hosted a public discussion with Kharon, on the key risks and trends of sanctions. The discussion was moderated by Amb. Daniel Fried and was joined by Atlantic Council Senior Fellows David Mortlock and Samantha Sultoon and Kharon executives Mark Nakhla and Josh Shrager. The panel opened with a […]

“The dilemma facing the Fed in deploying the repo facility – a necessary tool to calm the repo market when needed – reflects a fundamental conflict in accommodative monetary policy at this juncture. It is needed to support the economy and financial markets but can endanger the stability of the financial system.” Hung Tran, Non-Resident […]

On September 23, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting and Climate Week activities in New York City, the Global Energy Center hosted a private roundtable launching its latest report, Assessing Blockchain’s Future in Transactive Energy, authored by David Livingston, deputy director, climate and advanced energy at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center […]

On September 6, following drone attacks on two Saudi Aramco oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurai, the Atlantic Council held a members and press call to discuss these attacks and their immediate implications for oil markets and geopolitics and security in the region. Speakers included Kirsten Fontenrose, director for regional security, Middle East programs […]

Jean-Francois Seznec quoted in the Washington Post on the early September attacks on Aramco facilities: “The strike on Abqaiq, where crude oil is processed, targeted a “vital piece” of the Saudi oil production network while exposing gaps in the kingdom’s defensive capabilities, said Jean-Francois Seznec, a senior fellow at the Global Energy Center at the […]

From September 11 to September 15, Resident Senior Fellow Andy Carvin led four sessions at the Online News Association Conference, the largest digital journalism conference in the world, held in New Orleans, Louisiana. In front of an audience of 2,500, he moderated the opening keynote on fighting disinformation globally. He led a session on mitigating […]

On September 19, Associate Director Lukas Andriukaitis gave a keynote speech on countering disinformation and led a table game at NATO Away Day 2019 in Brussels, Belgium. In attendance were 60 NATO PDD staff, including Ambassador Ildem Tacan.

“The fake quote attributed to Noah has been circulating on the internet, in varying forms and countries, since at least 2017, according to an investigation by Digital Forensic Research Lab, a project of the international affairs think tank Atlantic Council, which traces the sources of online disinformation.” Andy Carvin, Resident Senior Fellow, Digital Forensic Research […]

As world leaders gathered in New York for the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, one crisis – Venezuela – threatens to increasingly spread beyond its borders without renewed international attention. The Western Hemisphere’s largest man-made emergency is the result of years of Nicolás Maduro’s failed economic policies, cronyism, corruption, and systemic human […]

On September 26, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center hosted the President of Colombia Iván Duque for the launch of the US-Colombia Task Force report, which lays out a modernized plan for the bilateral relationship. Frederick Kempe, Atlantic Council president and CEO kicked off the event with introductory remarks. Senators Roy Blunt and […]

On October 2, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, in partnership with Foreign Policy Magazine (FP) and Florida International University (FIU), hosted its first crisis simulation PeaceGame Venezuela: Pathways to Peace. The half-day, private, off-the-record simulation included 31 participants from Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, and the United States. Assuming the role […]