Atlantic Council blogs

Top News: Egypt Backs Away from Plan to Dissolve Muslim Brotherhood

By EgyptSource

Egypt should not ban the Muslim Brotherhood or exclude it from politics after the army’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, the interim prime minister said on Tuesday, reversing his previous stated view.

Is Libya Finally Walking the Walk?

By Karim Mezran

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan has announced the launch of a national dialogue initiative to address some of the most important challenges hindering the country’s progress toward a pluralistic and transparent political system.

Consent and Legitimacy

By David Johnson

This article should begin with the explicit acknowledgement that the author, as you might have guessed on seeing the byline, is not Egyptian. Thus, it is inherently that much more dangerous, as an outsider, to speak about what it seems the Egyptian people want. Of course, given the limited extent of public opinion polling in […]

NATO Condemns Use of Chemical Weapons and Warns that ‘Those Responsible must be Held Accountable’

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

The North Atlantic Council has just discussed the situation in Syria and in particular the horrific use of chemical weapons around Damascus on 21 August.

Obama Hosts Baltic Presidents This Week

On Friday, August 30, US President Barack Obama will host the presidents of the three Baltic states: Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Latvian President Andris Bērziņš, and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė. Atlantic Council Executive Vice President Damon Wilson discusses the significance of the visit and the expected topics on the agenda.

Syria: A Shot in the Dark

By Julian Lindley-French

There are times when a punitive military strike can be justified, legitimate, proportionate, and effective. US Secretary of State John Kerry has described last week’s use of chemical weapons against the population of a Damascus suburb as a “moral obscenity.” He is of course right–the use of such weapons against civilians is a disgusting act […]

MENASource Discussions: Prospects for Kuwait with Dr. Mary Ann Tétreault

By MENASource

Senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center and former ambassador Richard LeBaron and Dr. Mary Ann Tétreault, a former professor of international affairs and expert on Kuwait, held a discussion on Kuwait’s prospects for political development in light of recent regional turmoil.

President of Finland: NATO Membership no Substitute for Strong National Defense

By YLE

President Sauli Niinistö told Finland’s diplomatic corps that the country’s current relationship with NATO had served its interests.

Pentagon Sees Syrian Military, Not Chemical Sites, as Target

By Thom Shanker, C.J. Chivers and Michael R. Gordon, New York Times

President Obama is considering a range of limited military actions against Syria that are designed to “deter and degrade” the ability of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to launch chemical weapons, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.