Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
Ukraine’s Art Arsenal: Where Culture and Politics Crossed Swords
During his July 7 visit to Kyiv, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States will pour an additional $23 million in aid into Ukraine. Radiating sincerity, President Petro Poroshenko said this decision was a “vivid reflection of a deep trust that the United States has for Ukraine” as well as Ukraine’s “commitment to...
Euromaidan Leaders Launch New Party in Ukraine. Can It Succeed?
As Europe lurches in the direction of populism, xenophobic anti-immigrant attitudes, and anti-EU posturing, Ukraine appears to be tilting the other way. Located largely outside European discourse for the last twenty-five years, Ukraine is now odd man out, with pro-EU sentiments running high, xenophobic attitudes largely absent, and not one but...
No Longer a Secret: Ukraine is Europe’s New Frontier Market
American and European Investors Quietly Descend on Kyiv Chestnut trees shade the streets, restaurants colonize sidewalks with what are deemed “summer verandas,” and hemlines have risen with the temperatures.Yes, it is summer again in Kyiv.But this summer, this garden city is seeing a new, discreetly invasive species: American and European...
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...
