Global Challenges
Paul Smyth: A popular revolt seeking political freedoms has become a civil war in which democratic objectives are increasingly sidelined. If Assad falls before an effective alternative government is available, a power vacuum may exist in which Islamist groups seek to rule the country. For women, liberals and minorities, life after Assad may not bring progress. …More
NATO: For many of the soldiers injured in Afghanistan their war is over, some of them will make a full recovery while others require round-the-clock care. The dedicated team of staff and volunteers at the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility, or CASF, work tirelessly to make sure these soldiers return to their families. …More
The assumption that the world, due to the events of the Arab Spring, has acknowledged a “new Middle East” has proven wrong. ++ Despite harsh rhetoric and verbal clashes, an attack of any Arab player on Israel is unlikely. ++ Israel’s “Iron …More
Neither the Bush nor the Obama administration could successfully alter the bad US image in combating climate change. ++ Given latest decisions in US climate policy, the US seems unwilling to take the lead. ++ However, the US …More
Abstract: “The future of the Arctic, as its ice melts by land and sea, has become a hot topic in governmental as well as academic and media circles. Over the last decade, each of the eight countries that founded the Arctic Council - Canada, Denmark, …More
Alexander M Battaglia: The Atlantic Initiative and the Heinrich-Böll Foundation organized a breakfast in Berlin to watch the US election results, concession and victory speeches. The majority of the 300 mostly young people seemed overjoyed that Barack Obama had won, yet looked upon the next four years with a weary and restrained hope. …More
Zulfiqar Shah: Pakistan’s Sindh region has witnessed the devastating impacts of climate change. The region now faces security problems due to increasing rural poverty, ethnic and demographic tensions, and internally displaced persons. Regional and federal policy needs to step in to prevent further conflict, food insecurity, and state failure. …More
With declining output from onshore fields, Russia’s oil industry is at a new crossroad. ++ Russia needs foreign partners, to stimulate competition and help develop offshore fields in its Arctic region. ++ Given that Putin …More
Ilqar Fuad Qurbanov: Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said that his country is open to participate in the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline Consortium (TANAP). Given the political and geographical conditions of TANAP, how plausible is Ukraine’s participation and what costs would it incur? …More
Aaron D. Fernando: Terrorism is very much a disease: it is better to take preventive measures to stop it in the first place. The American approach does not take this bigger picture into account. In focusing on killing individuals, the United States is losing the greater war and helping societies to become ever more radicalized. …More
Andrew Walker: In an attempt to prevent another terrorist attack, the US is faced with many difficult choices in combating an adversary that hides in plain sight, targets noncombatants, and has shown a propensity to sacrifice itself in the name of a cause. No matter how effective these choices may be, one should not forget there is a steep price to pay. …More
The incident that has left four Americans including the US Ambassador to Libya dead has been labeled by the White House as a “terrorist attack”. ++ The only problem is that according to the statutory definition of terrorism for an …More
In celebration of Iran’s “Ten Years of Nuclear Resistance,” Deputy Secretary Bagheri depicted Obama’s dual strategy as counter-productive, doing little to change behavior. ++ And he may be right. ++ Despite pressure from the …More
Sascha Lohmann: The order of steps undertaken within the West’s coercive dual-track approach has to be altered. In this regard, a lifting of sanctions as well as a recognition of Iran’s right to nuclear energy must both be employed to facilitate a diplomatic solution. …More
Jonathan Granoff is currently the president of the Global Security Institute, an international organization dedicated to nuclear disarmament. As a lawyer and international advocate, he has been a vocal opponent of nuclear …More
Before joining the Carnegie Endowment, Dr. Ottaway carried out research in Africa and in the Middle East for many years and taught at the University of Addis Ababa, the University of Zambia, the American …More
Can Islamism reorient its extremist wings into a moderate force for modernization? ++ Europe’s history, especially that of the Christian Democratic parties and Germany who we thought could never accept democracy, shows that it …More
Editorial Team: Adrian Kendry responds to member questions about NATO capabilities, specialization, and other aspects of smart defense. He also explains NATO’s commitment to energy efficiency and talks about resource wars and terrorist financing. …More
Europe buys three times more US products than China. ++ Though US orientation towards Asia is legitimate, the importance of transatlantic relations must not be neglected. ++ A Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement can significantly foster …More
Negotiations between the EU and Turkey about full membership have almost come to a dead end. ++ A breakthrough will be difficult to achieve due to the continuing criticism on Turkey’s restrictions on human rights. ++ Recent surveys …More
Yasser Abumuailek: Despite its re-conception after the fall of Communism to adapt to the new challenges of an ever-changing world, NATO is facing a new challenge it must master before it’s too late: winning the hearts and minds on the social media front. …More
The analogue years are long over, as an increasing number of people across the globe have access to the information that they need from digital media. ++ It is becoming more difficult for authoritarian regimes to mis/disinform the public. ++ …More
NATO Review: Smart defense is a concept that encourages Allies to cooperate in developing, acquiring and maintaining military capabilities to meet current security problems in accordance with the new NATO strategic concept. Therefore, NATO smart defense means pooling and sharing capabilities, setting priorities and coordinating efforts better. …More
Israel’s “bomb Iran fever” is based on lies and what if’s. ++ Iran does not even have nuclear weapons and has offered concessions beyond its obligations under the NPT, but still Israel is foolishly convinced that it is a …More
The Great Recession represents an opportunity to reactivate stalled nuclear arms reduction efforts, including ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. ++ Nuclear arsenals are still too large; they are a budgetary albatross …More
Klaus Naumann: To achieve a nuclear free world a “No-First-Use” declaration should be collectively agreed. The US-Russia treaty on the reduction of strategic nuclear weapons should be followed by further measures to reduce the global nuclear stockpile to 2,000, or less than 10% of today’s number, by 2025. …More
Neither the Bush nor the Obama administration could successfully alter the bad US image in combating climate change. ++ Given latest decisions in US climate policy, the US seems unwilling to take the lead. ++ However, the US …More
Editorial Team: At the culmination of atlantic-community.org’s policy workshop competition, German students Julia Grauvogel, Philipp Große and Sascha Lohmann discussed their team’s policy recommendations with US Ambassador Philip D. Murphy and CDU/CSU Foreign Policy Spokesman Philipp Mißfelder. …More
Editorial Team: You are cordially invited to a dialogue hosted by the Atlantic Initiative in Berlin between the US Ambassador Philip D. Murphy, CDU/CSU Foreign Policy Spokesperson Philipp Mißfelder and the winners of our student competition. The dialogue will focus on Iran’s nuclear program, Russia and the West, and climate change. …More
NATO has to remain a special instrument of the trans-Atlantic relationship. ++ The return of France to integrated command, however, must not affect the independence of its foreign policy. ++ Events like the Libya crisis have …More
Sean Lobo: This thesis seeks to identify and map out different institutional logics of what is perceived as appropriate by key personnel affiliated with the Centers of Excellence concept, and to analyze the concept’s roles and rationale, especially with regard to the overall transformation of NATO. …More
Franco Pedroni: Civil society has long been or co-opted and appeased through the use of economic means. However, those means mean less today and global interconnectedness is higher than ever before. Are we seeing the emergence of the Underdogs as new global players? And where will the State-centric system end? …More
Editorial Team: Adrian Kendry responds to member questions about NATO capabilities, specialization, and other aspects of smart defense. He also explains NATO’s commitment to energy efficiency and talks about resource wars and terrorist financing. …More
Editorial Team: Adrian Kendry has answered questions from atlantic-community.org members about the security implications of the financial and economic crises. In the first part, he talks about potential threats to the stability of the Alliance, terrorist recruitment and defense spending levels. …More
NATO has to remain a special instrument of the trans-Atlantic relationship. ++ The return of France to integrated command, however, must not affect the independence of its foreign policy. ++ Events like the Libya crisis have …More
Editorial Team: Our 2012 policy workshop competition featured many fantastic articles from our members, produced great Atlantic Memos and received enthusiastic feedback from decision makers! Editor-in-Chief Joerg Wolf takes a look back at the five months of “Your Ideas, Your NATO” in this new video. …More
Alexander Corbeil: The Arab Spring presents an opportunity for the West to re-engage Arab polities and allow for democratic transition. For this to occur, Arab elites, the “kingmakers” in any transitional process, must be provided assurances that their interests will be respected, a crucial aspect of Memo 39. …More
Editorial Team: Our 2012 policy workshop competition has been a big success, generating a number of innovative policy recommendations and with an exciting event in Berlin coming up on May 21. The competition has also gotten plenty of recognition throughout the online foreign policy community. …More
Editorial Team: We would like to wish all members and other readers Merry Christmas and a great start into 2013. We appreciate all for your excellent contributions to this open think tank. We will return with new content and a new layout in mid January. …More
Editorial Team: As an open think tank we provide a platform for anyone with good ideas on how to improve transatlantic policy. Writing op-eds can be very intimidating if you have never published one before. Here is some practical advice, as well as our editorial guidelines. …More
Editorial Team: The most intense debates among atlantic-community.org members were about NATO, Iran, Syria, Hungary and translantic relations in general. Twenty articles received more than ten comments this year. …More
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