Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
An Army of Storytellers
Public diplomacy has long been a positive tool of the United States and its partners, yet we are still losing in the battle happening online. At the Atlantic Council’s NATO Future Leaders Summit in Warsaw on July 7, three unique storytellers spoke about their experiences and efforts to bridge this online gap. Maxim Eristavi, a Ukrainian...
How Ukraine Can Better Treat the Invisible Wounds of War
Treating the “invisible wounds of war,” or psychological trauma, has become an important issue for international organizations in conflict zones. Ukraine is no exception. But the country is still learning how to best address this pressing mental health problem among combat veterans, internally displaced persons, and other vulnerable...
Texan Makes Fortune in Ukraine’s Tech Sector
“If you play by the rules, you can do business in Ukraine.” Jason Mitura is an all-American guy who grew up in Dallas, Texas, but made his first fortune in Ukraine.His success is all the more noteworthy given that he speaks little Ukrainian. On a tip, he flew to Kyiv for the first time in 2008 and found a huge opportunity.Over four years, he and...
Turkish Stream: Still Only a Dream
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on June 30 that he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had agreed to restore bilateral ties between their two countries. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev followed the announcement with his own statement that economic sanctions against Turkey would be removed “on a gradual basis.” Meanwhile,...
European Union Must Integrate Cybersecurity Efforts to Protect Energy Assets
In December of 2015, a sophisticated cyberattack on Ukraine’s power grid caused outages that left nearly 225,000 citizens without power. The malicious software used in the attack was traced back to Russian groups, making the intrusion a stunning realization of the threat posed by cyberattacks. Though this event called attention to the...
Europe’s Forgotten War: Fighting in the Donbas Has Never Stopped
Despite the existence of a ceasefire agreement, fighting in eastern Ukraine continues and is increasing. On July 5, three Ukrainian servicemen were killed and thirteen were wounded. The uptick in fighting began this past January, when Ukrainian officials reported up to seventy-one attacks a day and the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission...
A Security Dilemma in Northeastern Europe?
At NATO’s summit in Warsaw this week, the Alliance is expected to approve a plan to rotationally deploy as many as four battalions—roughly 4,000 troops—on the territory of the Baltic States and Poland in what it calls a new “persistent presence.” This represents a significant qualitative improvement in the reassurance and deterrence steps...
NATO Should Stand Up Black Sea Command Before It’s Too Late
At its summit in Warsaw on July 8 and 9, NATO should take urgent steps to protect its allies and partners on its southeastern flank. Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey, as well as Ukraine and Georgia, are all under severe pressure from Russia and require NATO assistance. Stephen Blank has urged NATO to pay more attention to the Black Sea at the Warsaw...
Could Ukraine’s New Civil Service Law Be Undermined?
In a major achievement for reformers, Ukraine’s parliament passed a revolutionary new civil service law last year that included key provisions related to the appointment of heads of local state administrations (LSAs). But if some members of parliament and perhaps even the presidential administration have their way, those elements of the law...
Brexit is a Win for Putin
A vote for Brexit is a big win for Russia’s foreign policy. Moscow has made no secret of its desire to upend the post-Cold War settlement in Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials have regularly said that there will be new rules for global order or no rules. They insist that Moscow has the right to a...
