Economy & Business

Lessons from a Privacy Shield post-mortem on Capitol Hill

By Kenneth Propp

A hearing on the consequences of the European Court of Justice's invalidation of the EU-US Privacy Shield illuminated the deepening transatlantic divide over data transfers, and it highlighted the early challenge the subject looks to pose for President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, which is eager to repair US-EU relations.

Seek membership for Mexico: NATO 20/2020 podcast

By Christopher Skaluba, Gabriela R. A. Doyle

Mexico’s membership in NATO may be the key to keeping a rapidly changing America invested in European security.

How can government agencies modernize? David Bray, PhD at GovCon Different

By the GeoTech Center

Dr. David Bray, Director of the Atlantic Council's GeoTech Center, spoke at GovCon Different about the process of modernizing government processes and infrastructure, drawing on his experience bringing the FCC into the cloud. Dr. Bray discussed the barriers to innovation, from culture and organization to fatigue and policy.

What Sudan’s terror delisting really means

The announcement today that the forty-five day notification period to Congress had elapsed and Sudan was finally off the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list is historic. It validates the new direction of the country, which it was set upon nearly two years ago by nationwide, peaceful street protests. More importantly, it represents a definitive break with Sudan’s troubled past—the true end of the Bashir era, which began more than thirty years ago—and holds out the hope for a more prosperous future for all Sudanese. The weight of the moment cannot be understated.

Reloading Ukraine’s privatization process

By Dmytro Sennychenko

The Ukrainian parliament is scheduled to consider a new bill in late December 2020 that aims to continue a radical reload of the country's privatization process begun in 2019.

Trade policy priorities for a COVID-19 era and beyond

By Barbara C. Matthews

Transatlantic trade policy stands at a crossroads as 2020 draws to a close. Challenged by populists across the political spectrum, disrupted by COVID-19, and potentially rendered irrelevant by the distributed digital economy, it is fair to question whether the multilateral trading framework crafted at the tail end of World War II is fit for the […]

Biden’s best chance for Mideast gains: go slow on Iran and build fast off the Abraham Accords

By Frederick Kempe

Imagine President-elect Biden standing before two doors that represent the Middle Eastern quandary he faces. One door is marked “Return to Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal.” The other is labeled “Build Upon Trump’s Abraham Accords.” As it is with most of these tales, there are perils in both paths.