Europe Center Commentary & Analysis

Ukraine on the Edge

By Sabine Freizer

Need for Dialogue on Institutional Reform Too many of the statements being made by foreign officials on the political crisis growing in Ukraine over the past three weeks have described it as a clash between pro-Western values and Russian imperialism. But talking about values will not provide a solution to the dispute. Instead all parties […]

The Bosnian Census and the Future of the Dayton Peace Agreement

By Sarah Bedenbaugh

For the first time since Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence from Yugoslavia, the country is conducting a national census.  In most countries, census-taking is an automatic, rather tedious method of record-keeping carried out at varying intervals.  In Bosnia, however, the census has stirred up deep-rooted ethnic tensions once more, and brings up fundamental questions about […]

Global Rule of Law Business Principles

The Atlantic Council and LexisNexis® Legal & Professional formally presented the initial draft of the Global Rule of Law Business Principles to the United Nations Secretary-General at a special event in NYC just before the beginning of the UN General Assembly. The United Nations Global Compact will work to develop a truly global approach for […]

UN Global Compact to Adopt “Global Rule of Law Business Principles”

LexisNexis® Legal & Professional—a Reed Elsevier business and a leading global provider of content and technology solutions— and the Atlantic Council formally presented the initial draft of the Global Rule of Law Business Principles to the United Nations Secretary-General at a special event Thursday night in NYC. The United Nations Global Compact will work to […]

Obama in Stockholm: A Missed European Opportunity

By Fran Burwell

Don’t get me wrong — Sweden has been an exceptional partner to the United States. Although technically not an ally, Swedish soldiers have stood with ours in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and the Swedish air force played a serious role in enforcing the no-fly-zone during the Libyan revolution. Sweden is also a strong supporter of a […]

Hollande Finds Confidence, Vision, and Voice—Now It’s the French People’s Turn

By Nicholas Dungan

Earlier today, President François Hollande provided what many had been waiting for since his inauguration a year ago: a confident vision of the future and a clear idea of France’s place in it. It would be easy, but erroneous, to underestimate how big a difference this change of discourse can make.

Lessons (Not) Learned from the Caucasus

By Sabine Freizer

The situation in Turkey today could be much less polarized, without such strong anger and distrust of the police, if a key lesson learned in the South Caucasus had been applied in Taksim Square: governments should engage non-violent protestors and allow demonstrations to fizzle out gradually.The indiscriminate and violent police reaction in Turkey did the […]

Transcript: 2013 Freedom Awards

The 2013 Atlantic Council Freedom Awards honored former Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the European Humanities University of Belarus, Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, and former US Ambassador to Hungary Mark Palmer.

Europe’s September Phoenix

By Fran Burwell and Nicholas Dungan

As European leaders return to work after their summer holidays, they will find many of the same problems they left behind: the sovereign debt crisis, a vulnerable banking system and an unreconciled division over austerity vs growth. Amid the doom and gloom, however, it is worth pausing to celebrate how far Europe has come.