Ashish Kumar Sen

Exiled Russian Lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev: Current US Sanctions Won’t Work  The United States must expand the scope of its sanctions well beyond Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle if this effort—a response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine—is to have any real impact, says a Russian lawmaker.

Yet Another Peace Deal in South Sudan  The international community must keep up its pressure on rival sides in South Sudan if it wants to ensure the success of a peace agreement President Salva Kiir reluctantly signed August 26, says the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham.

In Greece, It’s Splitsville for Syriza Greek voters will rally behind Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who lost part of his Syriza party August 21 after he was forced by creditors to abandon his anti-austerity stance, says the Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell.

In Greece, It’s the End of Syriza as We Know It  Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ decision to resign and call snap elections in an attempt to shore up support for a harsh bailout package will split his leftist party, says the Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell.

Hacks and Attacks: How Do You React When China Conducts a Cyber Attack? When the news broke earlier this summer that hackers had breached the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and accessed the records of more than twenty million current and former federal employees, it prompted calls to punish China, which was believed to have orchestrated the cyber attacks.  

Of Rights and Wrongs in Cuba The Obama administration must use the new opening in its relationship with Cuba to continue to press the government in Havana to respect human rights, says the Atlantic Council’s Peter Schechter.

Al Qaeda Affiliate Gets Out of the Way in Syria By deciding to quit frontline positions against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in northern Syria, al Qaeda-affiliate Nusra Front has made a US-Turkish agreement on establishing a safe zone in northern Syria more likely, says the Atlantic Council’s Faysal Itani.

Is Turkey’s War on PKK Hurting US Alliance Against ISIS?  The US-Turkish alliance against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) complicates but need not impede, and might even ease,  the United States’ military partnership with a Syria-based Kurdish group that has been instrumental in the war on ISIS, said Francis J. Ricciardone, Vice President and Director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.

Afghan Peace Process: DOA? Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is right, Pakistan can do more to disrupt terrorist networks that plan and carry out attacks across the border in Afghanistan, says Atlantic Council Senior Fellow James B. Cunningham.

Will Europe Continue to Stand with the United States if Congress Rejects Iran Nuclear Deal? A steadfast alliance between United States and Europe—epitomized by a crippling sanctions regime—is widely credited with having brought Iran to the point where it was willing to consider curbs on its nuclear ambitions. But what would happen to that united front if Congress were to reject the deal reached between the so-called P5+1 and Iran in July? That’s a million-dollar question.