Featured Publications
Kazakhstan and the United States: Twenty Years of Ambiguous Partnership
The Five Futures of Cyber Conflict and Cooperation
US Lessons for the Eurozone Restoring Confidence through Transparency
Prospects and Challenges for Increasing India-Pakistan Trade
A US-EU Action Plan for Supporting Democratization: Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia
Council News
Jonathan Paris Discusses Syrian Crisis with France 24
Jonathan Paris, nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, appeared on France 24 to discuss Russia's support for the Assad regime and what it means for a possible UN resolution against Syria.
Damon Wilson US Senate Testimony: Ukraine at a Crossroads
On February 1, Atlantic Council executive vice president Damon Wilson testified at a hearing of the US Senate Committe on Foreign Relations on the topic: "Ukraine at a Crossroads: What's at Stake for the US and Europe?"
Michele Dunne on US-Egypt Relations for NPR's Morning Edition
Relations between the US and Egypt have taken a downturn since Egyptian authorities raided the offices of seventeen nongovernmental organizations in December - three of them US-funded. Michele Dunne, director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, spoke on NPR's Morning Edition about the situation and what it means for US aid to Egypt.
FEATURED ISSUE
The South Asia Center receives guidance and support from many experts throughout the world. Our senior fellows, guest-speakers, Center patrons, and visitors contribute heavily to the Center’s mission to “wage peace,” and engage the international community in the region. The Center asked our contributors the simple, but key question, “What you do expect in 2012?”
REGISTER
EU Steps Up Efforts to Influence Former Soviet States
Peter Cassata | December 04, 2008On Wednesday, the EU announced €350 ($443.5) million in aid to the former Soviet countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said that in the wake of the Georgia war, Europe felt a necessity to encourage democratic reforms in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. RFE/RL:
The EU proposal calls for increased cooperation with the Eastern European states in four key areas: democracy and the rule of law, the harmonization of economic systems and rules, energy security, and people-to-people contacts, including visa liberalization.
In a statement, the commission said the EU has 'a vital interest in seeing better governance and economic development' in Ukraine, George, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Belarus, as well as an interest in reducing Russia's influence over them.
[...]
Under the new program, the 27-member EU will draw up new agreements with the six countries as a reward for making democratic and free market reforms.
The €350 million in new aid will go toward strengthening state institutions, border control, and assistance for small companies. The EU has now pledged €1.5 ($1.9) billion in aid to its eastern neighbors by 2020.
Belarus, however, must implement democratic reforms to qualify for the aid. The plan, which aims to strengthen the EU's influence in the six countries, is (predictably) likely to anger Russia.
