New Atlanticist

Conflict and Opportunity on the Nile

Peter Pham — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:04:29 -0500

Last week, Ethiopia’s parliament unanimously ratified a treaty with five of its neighbors that opens the way for broad regional cooperation on the use of the waters of the Nile River.

A New Declaration of Interdependence

Frederick Kempe and Aart De Geus — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:39:22 -0500

On July 4, 1962, U.S. president John F.

Obama's Confusing Syria Calculus

Rajan Menon — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:52:33 -0500

There’s something morally perplexing about President Obama’s stance on the war in Syria. It’s not any clearer in its strategic logic.

Dancing in the Streets

Barbara Slavin — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:23:54 -0500

Finally, Iranians got the chance to party in the streets.

The solid election victory on Friday of the least hard-line candidate -- moderate cleric and former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani -- touched off spontaneous celebrations in the major squares and avenues of Tehran that authorities did not try to stop.

Obama Should Call for German Leadership

Jeffrey Lightfoot — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:07:44 -0500

President Barack Obama should use his speech tomorrow at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate to call for more active, confident German leadership of the European Union—which is needed if the continent is to rise above its present political and economic crisis.

The G8 Needs a Standing Agenda: Competitiveness

Nicholas Dungan — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:22:21 -0500

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is having a bit of a romp. Last year, the United Kingdom hosted the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, and celebrated Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. This year, Britain holds the rotating presidency of the G8, the high point of which is the heads of government meeting at Loch Erne in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, Monday and Tuesday June 17 and 18.

Deepening Transatlantic Trade: Historic Opportunity or a Failure to Launch?

Garrett Workman — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:39:16 -0500

As President Obama heads to Europe for the G8 summit in Northern Ireland and a state visit to Berlin, the official launch of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations figures prominently on the agenda. Meanwhile, in Brussels, European Union trade ministers are working feverishly to assuage the fears of certain member-states and secure a wide negotiating mandate for a comprehensive transatlantic deal.

The New Prince of Persia

Julian Lindley-French — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:03:50 -0500

Democritus wrote, “I would rather discover one true cause than gain the Kingdom of Persia”. With the election of the maybe vaguely reform-minded Hassan Rouhani many in the West are again hoping that this new Prince of Persia will also mark a new beginning for Iran.

The Third Russian Revolution

Harlan Ullman — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:40:50 -0500

Make no mistake: On the current trajectory, Russia won't be immune to many of the forces that provoked the so-called colored revolutions in adjacent states and even the misnomered Arab Awakening.

Syria: A Crossing for its Own Sake?

Frederic C. Hof — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:19:54 -0500

The US administration has, at long last, crossed the Rubicon of authorizing lethal assistance to selected units of Syria's armed opposition.