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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
On May 27, Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the United States, spoke at this year’s edition of the Atlantic Council’s Christopher J. Makins Lecture, a series exploring the state of the Atlantic partnership and its future direction.
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
When Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser of the Bangladeshi interim government, stepped off his plane and onto a red carpet in Beijing in March, he did not just break tradition: He lit a fuse in South Asia. Typically, new Bangladeshi leaders head to India for their first bilateral visit abroad, but Yunus instead traveled to China. Peking University bestowed him with an honorary doctorate.
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
Corruption Eastern Europe Elections Fast Thinking: Why Romania chose centrism in the end JUST IN Dan’s the man. Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan won Sunday’s Romanian presidential election, a triumph for centrist, pro-European forces in a country that has been roiled by six months of electoral upheaval. “We need to build Romania together irrespective of who you voted for,” Dan told cheering supporters.
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
Geography is destiny. The quote is sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, but it might as well also be the working motto of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This past week, Erdoğan strung together a trio of geopolitical wins that underscored his success in leveraging his country’s size, military capability, and—perhaps most of all—geographic position to achieve outsize influence.
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
The recent headline-grabbing flare-up between India and Pakistan over Kashmir was punctuated by missile strikes, one of the fiercest aerial dogfights since World War II, retaliatory rhetoric, and a shaky cease-fire. But there’s a quieter, yet equally consequential, shift worth watching closely: one taking place among India and Pakistan’s neighbors. These neighbors are Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives, none of which has nuclear weapons.
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
There has never been a US presidential visit to the Middle East like this one. This week, success will be measured not in conventional diplomacy, peace deals, or arms sales, although Donald Trump did make some news by lifting sanctions on the Syrian leadership, urging Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to join the Abraham Accords by normalizing relations with Israel, and agreeing to a $142 billion weapons package for Riyadh.
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
The India-Pakistan crisis, which severely escalated last week, serves as a critical lesson for the United States’ nuclear negotiations with Iran. This showdown between countries that each possess approximately 170 nuclear warheads has been fueled by decades-long disputes over Kashmir and historical enmity. It unfolded following a terrorist attack on April 22 that killed twenty-six, mostly Indian civilians.
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
China International Markets Trade and tariffs United States and Canada What to make of the respite in the US-China trade war JUST IN It’s a dramatic de-escalation. On Monday, the United States and China announced that they will temporarily reduce the tariffs the two countries have imposed on one another for ninety days.
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
General John Raymond on national security and the future of space commerce Space Space Security Technology & Innovation United States and Canada China is catching up in the race to integrate space capabilities with the rest of its military, according to John W. Raymond, a retired US general who served as the first chief of space operations of the US Space Force. Raymond, speaking at an Atlantic Council Front Page and Commanders Series event on Thursday ahead of receiving the Council’s...
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1 month ago | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Katherine Walla
Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, the Atlantic Council held a press call on May 9, where experts discussed what to expect from the president’s first major trip abroad during his second administration. Below is a transcript of the conversation, moderated by Atlantic Council Senior Editorial Director Uri Friedman. William F. WechslerSenior Director, Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East Programs, Atlantic CouncilAmb. Nathan A.
