In-depth research and reports

A Twenty-First-Century Trade Agreement: Who Could Benefit?

By The Atlantic Council

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) began in 2004 as an inter-regional effort by four countries on the Pacific Rim to liberalize trade and investment. Ten years later it has grown to twelve member countries that represent 40 percent of global GDP, 26 percent of global trade, and 40 percent of US trade. It is the first […]

Bridging the Pacific: The Americas’ New Economic Frontier?

By Atlantic Council

Watch the July 23, 2014 report launch featuring Acting Deputy US Trade Representative Wendy Cutler, TPP Caucus Co-chairs Congressmen Charles Boustany, Jr. (R-LA) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and other experts from the public and private sectors. Bridging the Pacific: The Americas’ New Economic Frontier?, written by Atlantic Council author Peter Rashish, proposes nine concrete steps […]

A Roadmap for Ukraine: Delivering on the Promise of the Maidan

Ukraine is once again at a turning point in its young history. The Ukrainian leadership has a unique opportunity to make a decisive break with its authoritarian past and move confidently toward an open, market-oriented society. A Roadmap for Ukraine: Delivering on the Promise of the Maidan is a collection of the Council’s Ukraine in […]

All Elements of National Power: Moving Toward a New Interagency Balance for US Global Engagement

By Atlantic Council Combatant Command Task Force

Addressing near-term security challenges and long-range global trends requires a broader approach in the execution of America’s regional national security policy, argues All Elements of National Power: Moving Toward a New Interagency Balance for US Global Engagement, a new report by the Atlantic Council’s Combatant Command Task Force. Improving interagency cooperation and integration reduces risks […]

Uncertain Energy: The Caribbean’s Gamble with Venezuela

July 16 – The Obama administration must quickly adopt a range of transformative policies to avoid an energy crisis in the Caribbean and Central America, given the possibility that Venezuela’s financial support for energy imports to the region could erode quickly, according to the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center’s new report titled Uncertain […]

Losing Syria and Iraq to jihadists

By Faysal Itani

Jihadists in Iraq and Syria, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) are capturing cities, energy assets, and military hardware daily. They now control a territory the size of Jordan and are building a state from which they aspire and are increasingly able to attack US regional interests, allies, and the United […]

NATO in an Era of Global Competition

By Magnus Nordenman

As NATO winds down its combat operation in Afghanistan, the Alliance faces the most strategically constraining and competitive security environment since the end of the Cold War. The rise of Asia, changing demographics, disruptive technologies, the shale gas revolution, and an uncertain US leadership role in the world will all significantly impact NATO’s future trajectory. […]

Easing US and EU sanctions on Iran

By Iran Task Force

As negotiations resume today in Vienna between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, the Atlantic Council’s Iran Task Force introduces two papers that outline options for unwinding US and European sanctions against Iran—a key element of any long-term agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program.  “Easing US Sanctions on Iran,” […]

2014 NATO Emerging Leaders Working Group

By Young Atlanticist Program

Heads of state and government from all 28 NATO nations will convene at the NATO Summit in Wales this September to reaffirm the importance of the Trans-Atlantic bond and build a strong foundation for its future. To help Alliance leaders accomplish this task, NATO commissioned a working group of emerging leaders from member countries to […]

Will Brazil Get What It Expects from the World Cup?

By Ricardo Sennes

June 10 – “Will Brazil Get What It Expects from the World Cup?”, a new policy brief released by the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Center Latin America Center, argues that the World Cup’s most important bequest won’t be shiny new stadiums or the buffed up world-class reputation the country sought with the FIFA games. The author, […]

Intelbrief: Nigeria: The Limits of US Assistance

By Bronwyn Bruton

Bottom Line Up Front     Amid surging outrage in Nigeria and abroad—and the acute focus generated by the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign—over Boko Haram’s kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls, President Obama has promised that the US will do “everything it can” to help rescue them US support efforts are challenged in a number of ways to include […]

The next wave: 4D printing

By Thomas A. Campbell, Skylar Tibbits, and Banning Garrett

A new report by Thomas A. Campbell, Skylar Tibbits, and Banning Garrett, The Next Wave: 4D Printing – Programming the Material World, examines 4D printing, a new disruptive technology on the horizon that may take 3D printing to an entirely new level of capability with profound implications for society, the economy, and the global operating environment of governments and businesses alike.

The Gulf rising: Defense industrialization in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

By Bilal Y. Saab

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been quietly but steadily developing their indigenous defense capabilities over the past decade, according to a new report by the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center. In The Gulf Rising: Defense Industrialization in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, senior fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab […]

Libya’s Faustian bargains: Breaking the appeasement cycle

By Karim Mezran, Jason Pack, and Mohamed Eljarh

A new Atlantic Council report examines the threats to Libya’s stability, provides a detailed mapping of the militia landscape, and details policy options for the Libyan government and its international partners. In Libya’s Faustian Bargains: Breaking the Appeasement Cycle, the authors attribute the cycle of violence, intractable political stalemate, and weakened economy to the Libyan […]

IntelBrief: The Eastleigh Crackdown & the Troubled Kenya-Somalia Relationship

By Joshua Meservey

Bottom Line Up Front The Somali and Kenyan governments are at war with the Somalia-based terror group al-Shabab, but disagreements over the Kenyan Defense Forces’ actions in Somalia’s Kismayo region have strained the bilateral relationship. In April, Kenya launched a nation-wide security crackdown that targeted its domestic Somali population. Some four thousand were detained, including […]