Section: Latest news

      On President Trump’s ‘Jerusalem Declaration’
      Dec14

      On President Trump’s ‘Jerusalem Declaration’

      The prompt: opprobrium for much of President Trump’s other actions and utterances with glowing exception for announcing the moving of the American Embassy to Jerusalem. Trump has to respond to internal personal as well as external political pressures. He has to make decisions with those two universes somewhat in balance. The “Jerusalem...

      FTAC: “Oh, Jerusalem” and Islam’s New Divide
      Dec08

      FTAC: “Oh, Jerusalem” and Islam’s New Divide

      The prompt was the familiar — too familiar — and now cliche threat: the whole Muslims world will now unify against the “Little” and “Great” Satan that would be Israel and the United States were it not that Moscow, Damascus, and Tehran have consistently and with enthusiasm proven themselves cruel and evil to the Believers fervent or moderate:...

      FTAC: Political, Racial, Religious Singularity and Purity / Distribution x Equilibrium
      Dec05

      FTAC: Political, Racial, Religious Singularity and Purity / Distribution x Equilibrium

      Perhaps by way of the editor’s accidental tourism in poli-sci and poli-psy, BackChannels has from the start been about the distillation of basic concepts and values. That’s evident down the column of the left sidebar (which hasn’t been updated in some time): there are the universals — Compassion Empathy Justice Humility...

      The Importance of Being Angela Merkel
      Nov21

      The Importance of Being Angela Merkel

      Chancellor is vital for European solidarity on Russia sanctions, says Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell If German Chancellor Angela Merkel were to step down from her role it would create uncertainty over the fate of sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine, according to Fran Burwell, a distinguished fellow at the...

      Also in Media: “Western Worries About Russian Disinformation ‘Just Fits of Hysterics’” | Hungarian Spectrum | November 15, 2017
      Nov16

      Also in Media: “Western Worries About Russian Disinformation ‘Just Fits of Hysterics’” | Hungarian Spectrum | November 15, 2017

      Of course the title of the Hungarian Spectrum article is ironic, not dismissive. Moscow’s manipulation of “Information Space” beyond its boundaries is serious stuff, and the American public and other western democratic constituencies need to know it down to and through their grassroots. Good examples of Russian manipulation can be seen in...

      FTAC: A Thought on Powerful Global Elite and America’s Own Holy War in Defense of Democracy
      Nov14

      FTAC: A Thought on Powerful Global Elite and America’s Own Holy War in Defense of Democracy

      Our (American / EU / NATO) failure to so far address Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Russo-Iranian support for tyranny in Syria and war by proxy in Yemen, and our manner of perhaps chiding China (and trying to talk down North Korea off its military nuclear-development platform) may signal both result and cause for ceding the fullness of an...

      Paul Manafort’s Ukraine Connection
      Oct31

      Paul Manafort’s Ukraine Connection

      Long before Paul Manafort served as Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign chairman he worked for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian former president of Ukraine. It was in this role that Anders Åslund, a resident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, first met Manafort. Manafort would seek advice from...

      Central and Eastern Europe’s Pushback Against Sanctions on Russia
      Oct12

      Central and Eastern Europe’s Pushback Against Sanctions on Russia

      While the Kremlin’s hopes for a partial relaxation of US sanctions on Russia have all but evaporated due to increasing tension between Moscow and Washington, Russia can still count on friends and partners in Eastern Europe to promote sanctions relief. For example, in a speech to the Council of Europe on October 10, Czech President Miloš...

      Also in Media: Excerpt: “Mikhail Khodorkovsky Lantos Rule of Law Speech”, October 10, 2017
      Oct11

      Also in Media: Excerpt: “Mikhail Khodorkovsky Lantos Rule of Law Speech”, October 10, 2017

      It is a great honour for me to give the first Tom Lantos Rule of Law Lecture. I would like to thank Annette Lantos, Katrina Lantos, and their whole large family for all their support over these 10 long years. Today, the outside world is seeing Russia more and more as an aggressive country with an outmoded economy… Against the background of the...

      Russia’s Soldier Selfie Ban Fights Open-Source Research
      Oct07

      Russia’s Soldier Selfie Ban Fights Open-Source Research

      A law drafted by Russia’s ministry of defense, which would ban its soldiers’ use of social media, serves to confirm the work of open-source researchers reporting on the illicit presence of Russian troops in Ukraine and Syria, according to Atlantic Council analysts. “The Russian authorities and media have repeatedly tried to undermine...