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MENASource

Oct 7, 2015

Libya’s Leadership Vacuum and its Impact

By Jason Pack

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday September 28, US President Barack Obama acknowledged the shortcomings of the 2011 NATO military intervention in Libya while simultaneously defending the initial logic of the mission, stating that a vacuum had been left behind after the toppling of the Qaddafi regime.

Libya

UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2015

Evolution, Not Revolution, Is the Way to Save Ukraine, Says Leading Anti-Corruption Crusader

By Diane Francis

Russian President Vladimir Putin is pivoting and wants to withdraw from the Donbas but keep Crimea, according to Iegor Soboliev, the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s anti-corruption committee. “He wants to give it back to us right now. He doesn’t need the Donbas,” he said in an interview on October 5. “Unfortunately, he will try […]

Russia Ukraine
French Defense Minister Yves Le Drian and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, June 3, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 7, 2015

Letter from Strasbourg (Part Two): French Doubts about European Defense

By Leo Michel

Insights from the 13th annual “summer defense college,” in Strasbourg.

European Union France

MENASource

Oct 7, 2015

Top News: Emboldened by Russian Air Strikes, Syrian Regime Forces Mount Attacks

By MENASource

Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes battled insurgents in Idlib and Hama provinces on Wednesday in the first major ground fighting since Moscow began launching air raids on militants last week, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

MENASource

Oct 7, 2015

Top News: Sisi Issues Presidential Decree Amending Penal Code

By EgyptSource

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued on Tuesday a decree amending the Penal Code.

MENASource

Oct 7, 2015

EconSource: IMF says Iran Nuclear Deal to Boost Mideast Economy

By EconSource

The Iranian nuclear deal will lift economic growth in the Middle East next year as the rolling back of sanctions brings a rebound in oil exports, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday in its latest World Economic Outlook.

New Atlanticist

Oct 7, 2015

Hungary’s Gazprom Renegotiation and the Decline of Traditional Contracts

By Nolan Theisen

Since it was signed in 1996, the Panrusgáz contract with Russia has dictated the structure of Hungary’s natural gas market. While this contract’s expiration will be delayed until closer to 2018, it is clear that a new agreement will be negotiated on entirely different terms than before. Like other Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, […]

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2015

The Donbas Black Hole

By Irena Chalupa

What Russia hoped would be a small, victorious war has turned into the “geostrategic disaster of a new cold war,” writes Volodymyr Horbulin, a respected foreign policy analyst currently advising Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. In an article in Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, Horbulin argues that the main participants in the war have exhausted themselves. The Donbas has […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Oct 6, 2015

Portugal’s Election: Reforms Pay Off

By Andrea Montanino and Samuel Dorshimer

Portugal’s recent elections revealed that harsh reforms can have a payoff for serious political parties. Incumbent center-right coalition Portugal Ahead, formed by the People’s Party (CDS) and the Social Democrats (PSD), received the largest share of the vote in the Oct. 4 legislative election, despite not winning enough seats to form a majority government. This […]

Southern & Southeastern Europe
French Rafale jet, March 17, 2013

NATOSource

Oct 6, 2015

Letter from Strasbourg (Part One): French Defense Priorities and Capabilities

By Leo Michel

NATO is past the half-way mark between last September’s Wales Summit and the Warsaw Summit planned for next July. So it is not too soon to ask how Allies are responding to the strategic, capability, and other challenges identified in Wales.

France Iraq