Politics & Diplomacy

UN-backed tribunal: ‘no evidence’ of Hezbollah leadership involved in assassination of Rafik Hariri

By William F. Wechsler, Nicholas Blanford, Jomana Qaddour, Gissou Nia, Joze Pelayo

The Special Tribual for Lebanon announced its verdict after fifteen years. Atlantic Council experts react to the tribunal announcement and what it means for Lebanon.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president turned ‘popstar,’ plans to run again

By Holly Dagres

In recent months, there have been talks that the two-term ex-president is planning to run in the 2021 Iranian presidential elections.

The failed UN Security Council vote on Iran proves why diplomatic engagement matters

By Alma Keshavarz

Should the arms embargo expire—and it likely will—the US faces a tough battle to reimpose snapback sanctions.

Alarm bells in Ukraine as Lukashenka calls on Putin to rescue his crumbling regime

By Bohdan Nahaylo

Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka is on the verge of being swept out of office by a wave of pro-democracy protests. He has called on Putin to save his regime, sparking alarm in neighboring Ukraine.

How the West should respond to Belarus

By Daniel Fried, Brian O’Toole

Belarus is experiencing a democratic awakening that could end 26 years of dictatorship and transform the regional geopolitical landscape. With Russia looming large over the crisis, how should the West respond?

What’s at stake for energy in the 2020 election: An update

By David Goldwyn and Andrea Clabough

In the seven months since the publication of the Atlantic Council’s issue brief, “Election 2020: What’s At Stake For Energy,” the social and political landscape of the United States can hardly have changed more dramatically. This issue brief updates the Atlantic Council’s prior analysis and considers the new context surrounding a Trump re-election scenario and a Biden election, and the consequences for the energy sector.

Hillary Clinton: The work awaiting the next US president will be ‘overwhelming’

By Katherine Golden

Just ahead of the Democratic National Convention, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that if Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris were to win the 2020 US presidential election, their administration must be prepared to advance on several domestic and international fronts simultaneously because the work they’ll face is “rather overwhelming.”

Transcript: A conversation with Hillary Clinton on the 2020 election and America’s role in the world

During an Atlantic Council Front Page event broadcast on August 17, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that “we’re going to have to quickly move to try to regain leadership and rebuild our alliances and make clear to our competitors and adversaries that… the vacuum is no more, that the United States is going to resume a position of global leadership and bring people together around common threats, whether it be climate change or the global pandemic.”

Burrows and Manning in The National Interest: What happens when America is no longer the undisputed super power?

By Atlantic Council