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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 22, 2014

Top News: Egypt heads to Geneva II, sees need for Syrian peace

By EgyptSource

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy will lead the Egyptian delegation to the conference, said ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty on Tuesday. “We hope all parties concerned will be serious and engage in negotiations and talks in order to achieve the ultimate objective, of course to stop the ongoing bloodshed and building a democracy in Syria […]

MENASource

Jan 22, 2014

Top News: Egypt’s April 6 denounces fresh arrests, warns of ‘third revolution’

By MENASource

April 6 Youth Movement has condemned the arrest of six of its members for distributing flyers calling for gatherings on the revolution’s anniversary. They were arrested at Cairo’s Shohada Metro station and detained for nine hours before being released without charge.

Finnish Army has been operating Leopard tanks since 2003

NATOSource

Jan 22, 2014

Finland Buys One Hundred Tanks from the Netherlands

By Defense Update

Finland and the Netherlands have agreed to transfer most of the remaining stock of Dutch Leopard 2A6 Main Battle Tanks (MBT) to Finland over a period of four years, for amount around €200 million.

Northern Europe

MENASource

Jan 22, 2014

Mezran and Pickard on Libya’s Constitution-Making Process

By MENASource

Libya’s future as a democracy hinges on the constitution-drafting process and the ability of the constituent assembly to consider and adequately address major political and security challenges. The Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center released an issue brief today, titled “Negotiating Libya’s Constitution,” authored by senior fellow Karim Mezran and nonresident fellow Duncan Pickard. The brief details […]

Libya

MENASource

Jan 22, 2014

Syria: Is there a Constructive Role for Iran?

By Frederic C. Hof

The recent furor over the aborted United Nations invitation of Iran to the Geneva 2 conference on Syria, convening today in Montreux, Switzerland, provided a comic opera distraction from a central reality: the role of Iran in the survival of Syria’s Assad regime is absolutely vital.

Syria

MENASource

Jan 22, 2014

Syria Needs a Truce Before Talks About its Future Can Begin

By Frederic C. Hof

Syria’s 23 million people have little to gain from the talks that are scheduled to begin in Switzerland on Wednesday. Until the Assad regime agrees to unimpeded access for UN humanitarian aid workers, there will be no basis for dialogue and compromise.

Syria
RAF Typhoon

NATOSource

Jan 22, 2014

NATO Project May Provide Allied Air Forces with ‘Plug and Play’ Precision Munitions

By Julan Hale, Defense News

Development of a NATO standard allowing aircraft from different nations to use precision-guided munitions (PGMs) from various sources and countries could reach a draft memorandum of understanding this year.

Libya NATO
NATO's planned headquarters

NATOSource

Jan 21, 2014

New NATO Headquarters in Financial Trouble

By Fidelius Schmid and Christoph Schult, Spiegel

NATO is building a new headquarters for one billion euros. But the construction consortium is in financial difficulties and the project is at risk of being halted.

Germany NATO

Trade in Action

Jan 21, 2014

What We’re Reading: January 21

By Global Business & Economics Program

TTIP Action aggregates the latest news and best analysis from across the United States and European Union on the ongoing negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs
REUTERS/Hosam Katan

New Atlanticist

Jan 21, 2014

Syria Talks Could Clarify an Alternative to Assad

By New Atlanticist

The “Geneva II” peace talks on Syria that begin this week under UN auspices have “absolutely zero” chance of achieving their formal goal – the creation of a transition to a new government – according to Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof. But, Hof told reporters in a briefing at the Council, the talks […]

Syria