Atlantic Council blogs

Is China’s Ambassador to Iceland Missing Because He Spied for Japan?

By Reuters and Kyodo News International

From Reuters:  China’s Foreign Ministry refused to say on Wednesday where its ambassador to Iceland was or who was even representing Beijing in the country, following reports he had been arrested by state security for passing secrets to Japan.

Top NATO Commander Concerned About ‘Little Green Men’ in Moldova

By Reuters and INFOTAG

From David Alexander, Reuters:  NATO’s top military commander said on Monday that Russia appeared to be following some of the same “hybrid warfare” script in dealing with the former Soviet republic of Moldova that it used before annexing Crimea and intervening in eastern Ukraine.

The Shadow of the Helwan Brigades

By Wael Eskandar

Ten seconds into a video showing over a dozen men armed with assault rifles threatening to target the police in south of Cairo, a man’s voice can be heard in the background instructing the men to ‘hold up [the] Rab’a [sign].’ Promptly, the men hold up four fingers as the main speaker continues to deliver […]

Top News: Pentagon Signals Need For Ground Troops in Iraq; Congress largely Backs Plan

By MENASource

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, raised the possibility on Tuesday that US troops might need to take on a larger role in Iraq’s ground war against Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants. The General explained that there was no intention to place military advisers on the […]

Top News: Salafi Watan Party Withdraws from Pro-Morsi Alliance

By EgyptSource

The Salafi Watan Party announced it is withdrawing from the pro-Morsi National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL), in a statement posted on its official Facebook page. 

EconSource: Tunisia Must Show ‘Audacity’ in Reforms– World Bank Report

By EconSource

Follow the latest in economic news and developments  about the Arab transition countries 

The US Begins Bombing ISIS: Will President Obama’s Strategy Work?

The ‘Islamic State’ Cannot Be Destroyed with Syria’s Assad in Power, Fred Hof Says  As the United States opens a campaign of airstrikes against the brutal militants of ISIS, Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Fred Hof says the US aim of destroying the group will require the overthrow of Syria’s also-brutal president, Bashar al-Assad. Removing the […]

Fighting the Islamic State in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has shared with the world his deep concern over publicly stated US intentions to attack Islamic State positions in Syria “without interaction with the Syrian government.”

The Dual Threats to Western Values

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Wall Street Journal

The abhorrent beheading of two American journalists and a British aid worker shocked the world. So did the tragic downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine.

Indirect Repression: When Reason is Eliminated

By Amr Hamzawy

The Egyptian regime is currently ruling the country via strategies of increased repression, which is exercised both directly and indirectly. This is seen in its attempts to improve the economic and social conditions in the country, and in its populist rhetoric based on the myth of the “saving hero,” and the reinstatement of autocracy as […]