Atlantic Council

Europe’s energy security discourse has been traditionally preoccupied with concerns about potential physical disruption of Russian gas. Fixation over the possibility of a physical disruption misses the point and misreads current European gas market realities.

China’s new leadership takes office amid growing questions about China’s internal direction and its assertive foreign policy. Conventional wisdom portrays China in the mode of Sun Tzu, far-sighted strategists looking decades ahead. But thus far, it appears that China’s leaders have strategic goals, but no apparent strategy for how to achieve them. This Atlantic Council brief-authored by Robert A. Manning and Banning Garrett-assesses the challenges China faces–worsening pollution, corruption, and a growth model that needs sweeping reforms and examines the difficulties Beijing faces in addressing them.

In the latest in the series of “IntelBriefs” on African security issues being produced by the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center in partnership with the Soufan Group, an international strategic consultancy, Ansari Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton argues that while International Criminal Court (ICC)-indicted Uhuru Kenyatta has secured a presidential victory in the recent Kenyan elections, he is unlikely to be ostracized by the international community, which has little leverage and too much to lose if relations with Nairobi become strained.

The latest Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center issue brief, “Six Months of Georgian Dreams: The State of Play and Ways Forward,” by assistant director Laura Linderman, reviews key developments following Georgia’s October democratic transfer of power.

The Middle East Peace and Security Initiative is pleased to release a new issue brief, “A Strategy for US Engagement in the Middle East: Contain Threats, Embrace Dignity." Michele Dunne, director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and Barry Pavel, director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security evaluate challenges and opportunities for US interests in President Barack Obama’s second term, in light of profound changes in the Middle East and North Africa.

International security in today's globalized world demands a framework responsive to interconnectedness, multiple power centers, shared vulnerabilities, and dramatic change. To meet these diverse challenges that affect the security of its members, NATO, as the West's premier security organization, must reach beyond the transatlantic arena.

In the latest in the series of “IntelBriefs” on African security issues being produced by the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center in partnership with the Soufan Group, an international strategic consultancy, Ansari Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton and Intern Sam Fishman argue that the political climate is slowly changing in Eritrea.

Atlantic Council Board Director Odeh Aburdene says in this issue brief that thanks to hydraulic fracturing and deep water technology, oil and gas extracted from rock shale formations will increase dramatically in the next ten years in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, and South Africa.

As the United States and European Union begin negotiations in earnest to establish a robust Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, C. Boyden Gray argues in a new Atlantic Council issue brief that the two sides should seek the most comprehensive agreement possible. Given the relative weakness of the recovery in the aftermath of the financial crisis, opening trade and establishing common regulatory standards provides both Europe and the United States with a viable path towards strong, sustainable economic growth. 

The Obama administration is sending mixed messages about the role that Congress should play in creating policies that would prevent the possibility of a catastrophic cyber attack, according to a new issue brief released by the Cyber Statecraft Initiative of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security.