Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

A ‘Window of Opportunity’ for TPP, TTIP

By Ashish Kumar Sen

White House official makes pitch for free-trade deals as Senate panel backs Trade Promotion Authority Two free-trade agreements currently being negotiated by the Obama administration will ensure a level playing field and benefit American workers, a senior White House official said April 23 at the Atlantic Council. “If we do not do this … the […]

Defining US Strategy for a World in Transition

By Larry Luxner

With war tearing apart eastern Ukraine, ethnic strife claiming lives from Libya to Yemen, and record numbers of African refugees drowning in the Mediterranean, it’s easy to conclude that the once-familiar world order is falling apart. Whether or not that’s true, few scholars would dispute that the United States is no longer in charge as […]

Dynamic stability: US strategy for a world in transition

By Barry Pavel, Peter Engelke, and Alex Ward

We have entered a new era in world history, a post-post-Cold War era that holds both great promise and great peril for the United States, its allies, and everyone else. This era calls for a new approach to national strategy called "dynamic stability."

Tackling the Authoritarian Comeback

By Brent Scowcroft Center

The past eight years have marked the longest period of reported deterioration in democracy since Freedom House began tracking such issues in 1972. It is with this concerning development in mind, be it a dangerous trend or merely an alarming blip in history, that the Atlantic Council convened a diverse group of experts to recognize […]

Authoritarianism Stages a Comeback

From Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev to Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, dictators seem to be gaining the upper hand these days—outsmarting the most determined pro-democracy activists with a clever mix of 21st-century technology and old-fashioned repression.

The Hidden Costs of Russia’s Proposed Aircraft Supercarrier

By Nicholas Varangis

Why is Russia planning on building an aircraft supercarrier in the next decade? The answer may seem self-evident: Russia wants to challenge the United States as a global power.

Completing Europe: The North-South Corridor

By David Koranyi and Ian Brzezinski

Twenty-five years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of a long process of European reunification, Europe has arrived at a historic inflection point. The European Union faces multiple external threats, including a resurgent Russia, growing global economic competition, and geopolitical upheaval.

Asian Bank not Intended to ‘Overthrow’ World Bank, says Chinese Official

By Ashish Kumar Sen

China’s proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will have a constructive and complementary relationship with both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and is not intended to “overthrow” either institution, Zhu Guangyao, China’s Vice Minister of Finance, said April 17 at the Atlantic Council. Instead, the AIIB will focus on economic development—particularly investing […]