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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

May 21, 2012

The Presidential Election: Last Battle of the Egyptian Revolution / الانتخابات الرئاسية: المعركة الأخيرة للثورة في مصر

By Haitham Tabei

A few days before Egypt’s first presidential election since the January 25 revolution, Egyptian voters are feeling tremendous confusion toward the eleven candidates vying to succeed former president Hosni Mubarak, overthrown by the popular uprising fifteen months ago. But activists and observers here in Cairo fear that this election will restore the former regime to […]

New Atlanticist

May 21, 2012

Anchoring NATO with Leadership

By R. Nicholas Burns and Damon Wilson

The long-term need for stronger political leadership is NATO’s most important challenge. The eurozone debt crisis and substantial reductions in defense spending have badly weakened Europe’s military capabilities and sapped its ambitions for global leadership. The decline is so severe that former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned of a “dim, if not dismal” future […]

NATO Security & Defense

MENASource

May 21, 2012

Top News: Brotherhood Shows Determination as Campaign Period Ends

By Tarek Radwan

Brotherhood supporters seem unfazed by surveys that show their unfancied contender trailing rivals who entered the race earlier and are spending heavily in the dash for votes. To prove its electoral clout, the Brotherhood organized what it said was a 760 km (470 mile) human chain of supporters across Egypt on Thursday.

New Atlanticist

May 21, 2012

The G Fiddle, Dissemble and Wait Communiqué

By Julian Lindley-French

The G-8 Summit communique, translated into plain language.

Europe & Eurasia

MENASource

May 21, 2012

A Tilt in Egypt’s Presidential Race: Morsy and Shafiq Up, Aboul Fotouh and Moussa Down

By Michele Dunne

There has been a rather stunning reversal of fortunes over the last week in the coming presidential race.  Amr Moussa and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, the two candidates considered front runners for some time now, seem to have lost ground due partly to their televised debate on May 10. 

NATOSource

May 20, 2012

The Atlantic Alliance Transformed

By Brent Scowcroft, the New Atlanticist

From Brent Scowcroft, the New Atlanticist: NATO’s tradition of operating by consensus has become more complex as the Alliance has expanded its membership

NATO Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 20, 2012

Taliban send message to NATO Summit: Please rush to exit Afghanistan

By Deb Riechmann, the AP

From Deb Riechmann, the AP:  The Taliban on Sunday urged all NATO nations in Afghanistan to follow France’s lead and pull their forces from the war.

New Atlanticist

May 20, 2012

NATO Needs Leadership Rethink to Remain Relevant

By Sarwar Kashmeri

After 64 years, it is time to share the baton of Nato’s leadership with the European Union. What is needed is bold vision of the kind that created the alliance in 1947.  Unfortunately, this is not on tap in Chicago. Which is why the Nato summit will be a missed opportunity to recalibrate the alliance […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

May 20, 2012

NATO: When I’m Sixty-Four

By R. Nicholas Burns and David Manning

NATO was 63 in April and will celebrate its birthday at today’s summit meeting in Chicago, no doubt accompanied by much debate about what purpose the alliance now serves and whether it has a future. The backdrop is somber. The NATO heads of government will focus on the withdrawal of the alliance’s forces from Afghanistan […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 19, 2012

Continue NATO Expansion

By Damon Wilson

This weekend, NATO leaders gather in Chicago to tackle an agenda dominated by Afghanistan, coping with defense budget cuts and global partnerships. These are key issues, yet alliance leaders cannot afford to ignore enlargement. The goal should be for this summit to advance, not set back, the candidacies of Macedonia, Montenegro, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. First, […]

NATO Security & Defense