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Atlantic Council blogs provide short-form analyses from Council experts and a wider community of global voices on the world’s most important news stories.
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MENASource

Jan 20, 2015

Top News: Morsi Accuses Army of Role in Deaths During 2011 Protests

By EgyptSource

Former president Mohamed Morsi defended himself in court on Sunday for the first time since his ouster, claiming he was innocent of charges of espionage and asserting that he was still Egypt’s president.

MENASource

Jan 20, 2015

Top News: Houthis Shell Presidential Residence in Yemen

By MENASource

Yemen’s information minister says Houthi rebels are shelling the residence of the country’s president as they swept into the presidential palace in the capital.

MENASource

Jan 20, 2015

EconSource: Egypt does not See Oil Price Drop Hitting Investments from Gulf

By EconSource

According to Egypt’s investment minister, Egypt does not expect Gulf Arab countries to reduce their investment in the country despite the fall in oil prices, as Cairo is of particular strategic importance for the region. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, which support Sisi as a bulwark against the spread of political Islam […]

Russia-Belarus military exercise Zapad, Sept. 26, 2013

NATOSource

Jan 16, 2015

Russia Could Soon Run Multiple Ukraine-Sized Operations: US General

By Adrian Croft, Reuters

Russia is working to develop within a few years the capability to threaten several neighbors at once on the scale of its present operation in Ukraine, a senior American general said.

NATO Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Jan 16, 2015

Four Months after Ukraine-Russia Truce, Putin Can’t Risk Implementing It

By James Rupert

The War at Donetsk’s Airport is On—And Peace Talks Planned for This Week Are Off The intensified battle between Ukraine and Russia for the airport in Donetsk seems likely to be a fight over this month’s military message in the Donbas war. Russia’s army veterans, fighting as mercenaries, form the bulk of the anti-Ukraine force […]

Russia Ukraine

MENASource

Jan 16, 2015

Yemen and Syria: Making the Same Mistakes Twice

By Danya Greenfield and Faysal Itani

The recent statement from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen claiming responsibility for directing the brutal Paris attack should refocus some attention on the shortsighted approach of current US counterterrorism efforts across the region.

Syria Yemen
Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama, Jan. 16, 2015

NATOSource

Jan 16, 2015

David Cameron ‘Endangering Special Relationship with America’ by not Protecting Defense Spending

By Ben Riley-Smith, Telegraph

David Cameron will damage Britain’s special relationship with America if he fails to keep defence spending above 2 per cent of GDP, the UK’s former defence attaché in Washington DC has warned.

NATO Security & Defense

MENASource

Jan 16, 2015

Factbox: Gearing up for Egypt’s Parliamentary Elections

By EgyptSource

Egyptians will head to the polls for the sixth time in the past four years, casting their ballots in the second parliamentary elections since the 2011 ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak. When will the vote take place? What kind of parliament can expect to be elected? What campaigning rules do candidates have to abide […]

Elections North Africa

MENASource

Jan 16, 2015

As Charlie Hebdo Ups Print Run, Egypt to Ban Foreign Publications Insulting Religion

By Joel Gulhane

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab was handed the power to outlaw the distribution of foreign publications in Egypt, as per a decree issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday. The order allows Mahlab to ban publications deemed “offensive to religion or publications promoting erotica in a way that can disturb the public peace.” At the time […]

North Africa
FSA rebels cleaning their AK47s, Oct. 19, 2012

NATOSource

Jan 16, 2015

US To Send 400 Trainers and Hundreds More Troops to Train Syrian Rebels

By Gordon Lubold, Defense One

The Pentagon will deploy more than 400 U.S. military trainers and hundreds more supporting personnel to four training sites in three countries as early as March as part of a long-awaited plan to help rebel forces to stabilize Syria.

Saudi Arabia Syria