Ashish Kumar Sen

France Facing its Biggest Threat Since 1945 France, a victim of terrorist attacks for the past nineteen months, is facing its greatest security challenge since World War II, according to Gérard Araud, France’s ambassador to the United States. “It is a very, very dark moment for my country,” said Araud. “It is obviously the biggest threat that France really has been facing since 1945.” “It is a threat against our security, but it is also a threat against our values, the social fabric of our country,” he added.

Europe’s (In)security Challenge A spate of terrorist attacks across Europe over the past nineteen months has shaken confidence in European security, but has had divergent impacts on the popularity of the leaders of France and Germany, according to the Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell. While German Chancellor Angela Merkel has seen a rise in support, French President François Hollande has found his already low approval ratings dip further.

Putting Turkey’s Crackdown in Context   The Turkish government’s crackdown on its opponents must be seen in the context of the trauma inflicted on the country as a result of the failed coup, but it must not come at the cost of the viability of democratic institutions, according to the Atlantic Council’s Aaron Stein.

Wanted: A Measured Response to Turkey’s Post-Coup Attempt Crackdown   The United States and Europe must have a measured response to developments in Turkey where a failed coup has been followed by a swift and widespread crackdown by the Turkish government, according to former US and UK officials.

In France, More Security, But Not at the Expense of Inclusivity   France must strike a delicate balance between securing its homeland while integrating all communities into French society, and one cannot come at the expense of the other, according to the Atlantic Council’s Damon Wilson.

Congolese Presidential Candidate Urges Use of Sanctions to Bring About Democratic Change in DRC   Moise Katumbi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s leading opposition candidate for president, has urged the international community to use sanctions to press Congolese President Joseph Kabila to give up power. A political crisis in a country where war claimed around five million lives between 1994 and 2003 could create instability that spreads to the DRC’s neighbors, he warned.

A ‘Body Slam’ for China  A ruling by an international tribunal in The Hague that China’s claims to “historic rights” in the South China Sea are unlawful delivers a setback to Beijing’s territorial ambitions. The question remains, however, whether this verdict will in any way alter China’s behavior.

South Sudan: Heading Down a Familiar Road to War?   The international community needs to take a more active role in defusing the crisis in South Sudan where gun battles between forces loyal to the president and vice president over the weekend resulted in the death of 200 people, said the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham. Contending that South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, and his vice president, Riek Machar, have been forced into a “shotgun marriage” as a result of an agreement on a unity government, Pham, who is director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, said it is unreasonable to expect to successfully impose reconciliation upon warring factions that are not ready for it.

Turning Brexit into Reality Incoming British Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to move ahead with taking the United Kingdom out of the European Union, and this is the most likely future course, said the Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell. However, a Brexit is not inevitable.

Brexit May Strengthen NATO The British vote to leave the European Union will have minimal impact on the United Kingdom’s role in NATO; it could, in fact, enhance the Alliance’s importance as a forum at which to address global challenges, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said in Warsaw on July 7. “The British are going out of their way to stress that Britain’s status within NATO is unaffected by Brexit,” said Vershbow, “that is a fact.”