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MENASource

Feb 27, 2015

EconSource: IMF Forecasts 3 Percent Growth for Tunisia in 2015

By EconSource

According to IMF representative to Tunisia, The growth rate in Tunisia will reach 3 percent in 2015, an increase with the respect to the 2.4 percent of 2014. According to IMF estimates, inflation will rise 5 percent in 2015 in Tunisia (compared to 4.9 percent in 2014) and the current account deficit will improve reaching […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 26, 2015

War Game Finds ISIS Escalating: Major Attack Unlikely to Alter US Approach

By Ashish Kumar Sen

How would the United States respond if the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) were to either take control of several Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad or conduct a major terrorist attack on the al-Asad airbase in Iraq where US personnel are based? Neither development would spur the United States to draw down its presence […]

Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama, Sept. 4, 2014

NATOSource

Feb 26, 2015

Report: Six European Members of NATO Will Cut Defense Spending and Break Agreement Made at Wales Summit

By Denitsa Raynova & Ian Kearns, ELN

Preliminary reports from fourteen countries examined for fiscal year 2015 suggest that only one (Estonia) will spend 2% of GDP on defence.

Germany Hungary

MENASource

Feb 26, 2015

The ISIS Game Plan in Libya

By Chris Chapman

The Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) has expanded beyond its original territory in Iraq and Syria and is working to establish a base of operation in North Africa. Libya is the catalyst for such aspirations, given its chaos since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

Libya
16634492802 0c94c1fa19 z

Trade in Action

Feb 26, 2015

TTIP Action | February 26

By Global Business & Economics Program

Speeches & Official Announcements Standing Up for Workers: Promoting Labor Rights through Trade “With TPP and T-TIP, we have a real opportunity to lock in the gains we have made in recent years to protect workers’ rights, improve working conditions, shape globalization and level the global playing field for American workers.” The US Department of […]

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs
Malmstrom Gabriel

Trade in Action

Feb 26, 2015

TTIP Action | February 24

By Global Business & Economics Program

Commissioner Malmström meets with German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel during a SPD Conference on TTIP in Berlin. Speeches & Official Announcements Letter from Cecilia Malmström to British Minister of State for Trade and Investment “There is no need to fear either for the NHS as it stands today or for changes to the NHS in […]

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

MENASource

Feb 26, 2015

The Egyptian Parliament: Constitutional Short-Comings of the Laws Regulating Elections

By Yussef Auf

There have been various legal reasons used to challenge the constitutionality of the laws organizing the upcoming parliamentary elections. For the most part, these reasons are based on controversial legal articles, many of which were rejected by a large segment of the political forces in Egypt.

Elections North Africa

MENASource

Feb 26, 2015

The Egyptian Parliament: After a Lengthy Absence, an Uncertain Future

By Yussef Auf

According to a timeframe put in place by the High Elections Commission (HEC) in January, a new Egyptian parliament should be elected and convened by mid-May, 2015, at the latest. However, a study of the current situation, particularly in legal and constitutional terms—irrespective of the political context and electoral alliances that may be formed—indicates that […]

Elections North Africa

AfricaSource

Feb 26, 2015

Assessing al-Shabaab’s Mall Threat

By Joshua Meservey

Al-Shabaab, the terrorist organization that controls stretches of Somalia, made a splash February 21 when it released a video featuring a masked spokesman calling for attacks on malls in England, Canada, and the United States. This is the group that in 2013 attacked the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya with terrible result, giving its threat […]

National Security Security & Defense
Chairman of the Bundestag defense committee Hans-Peter Bartels, Dec. 31, 2012

NATOSource

Feb 26, 2015

Political Leaders in Germany Question Readiness of the Bundeswehr

By Local (Germany)

The Bundeswehr (German army) is currently only 75 percent equipped with tanks and other heavy weapons, with equipment shared between different units as and when they need it under a so-called “Dynamic availability management” system.

Germany NATO