Atlantic Council

What attacks on shipping mean for the global maritime order

The landscape of maritime security has shifted dramatically in recent years as traditional protections for merchant vessels are increasingly challenged by non-state actors and geopolitical maneuvers.
September 09, 2024
2 Min Read

The Red Sea attacks highlight the erosion of US leadership in the region

Six months into the Biden administration's Operation Prosperity Guardian, aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the primary challenge has not been the Houthi threat but the failure..
June 12, 2024

China is testing its freeriding strategy in the Red Sea

The meeting between senior diplomats from Iran and Saudi Arabia at a China-brokered summit last year marked a surprising turn in diplomatic relations.
April 03, 2024

Putin must not be allowed to turn the Black Sea into a Russian lake

On July 17, Russia withdrew from the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, striking a devastating blow to Ukraine’s economy and undermining global food security. Yet the grain shutoff is just one..
August 25, 2023

Ukraine Strikes Back Against Russia as World’s 1st Drone War Escalates

While the Ukrainian authorities typically prefer not to acknowledge responsibility for individual incidents, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly warned that the war is now “returning..
August 23, 2023
9 Min Read

Did Russia commit a war crime in leaving the Ukraine grain deal?

On July 17, Russia announced that it had withdrawn from the Black Sea Grain Initiative (“the Initiative”), a deal brokered in 2022 by the United Nations (UN) and Turkey that allowed Ukraine to safely..
August 16, 2023

The way for the US to ensure Gulf security is through partnership, not policing

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Riyadh to meet with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers and the GCC secretariat. There, he mentioned how deeply the..
June 28, 2023
21 Min Read

Experts react: How a year of war in Europe remade NATO, and what comes next

What is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for? What should it do, and how? Will the Europeans spend more on defense? Will the United States stay committed? These were the questions bedeviling..
February 28, 2023

Egypt just seized part of Libya’s maritime zone

Egypt just seized part of Libya’s maritime zone. What’s the story behind the Egyptian decree no one is talking about?
February 09, 2023

How NATO can keep pace with hybrid threats in the Black Sea region and beyond

Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure in recent months have highlighted the devastating impact of twenty-first-century warfare and the resulting vulnerability of civilian life. A major..
January 10, 2023