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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 23, 2012

Egypt’s Next President Will Inherit an Unemployment Crisis

By Maye Ehab

Today, Egyptians began voting in the first truly democratic presidential elections in recent history. Egypt’s next president will face a multitude of challenges, foremost among them the urgent need to revive the ailing economy. Since the January 25 revolution, Egypt’s economy has been languishing under the strain of political instability and lack of security. Many […]

MENASource

May 23, 2012

Shafik Referred to Prosecutor General for Violating Electoral Law

By Mara Revkin

Just hours after the opening of polls on the morning of May 23, presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik has already been referred to Egypt’s Prosecutor General over a flagrant violation of the electoral law’s ban on campaigning 48 hours prior to and during the election days. Shafik appears to have crossed the […]

MENASource

May 22, 2012

How Egyptians Will Vote

By Michele Dunne

Predictions that Egyptians will head to the presidential poll in large numbers on May 23 and 24 are firm and consistent, but forecasts of how they will vote diverge significantly.

NATOSource

May 22, 2012

NATO Muddles Through in Chicago

By James Joyner, the New Atlanticist

From James Joyner, the New Atlanticist:  While the race to the exits on Afghanistan reached full stride with the election of François Hollande in France—which came with a promise to withdraw that pivotal nation’s forces by the end of this year

Cybersecurity Drones

NATOSource

May 22, 2012

To Survive, NATO Must Globalize

By Anne-Marie Slaughter, the New Atlanticist

From Anne-Marie Slaughter, the New Atlanticist:  Today, NATO is becoming, in the words of its secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, “a hub of a network of security partnerships and a center for consultation on global security issues.”

NATOSource

May 22, 2012

Anchoring NATO with Leadership

By R. Nicholas Burns and Damon Wilson, the New Atlanticist

From R. Nicholas Burns and Damon Wilson, the New Atlanticist:  Strong U.S. leadership of the alliance will be essential, just as it has been since NATO was formed in 1949.

United Kingdom United States and Canada

MENASource

May 22, 2012

SCAF’s Plan to Clarify Presidential Powers Leads to Confusion and Alarm

By Mara Revkin and Tarek Radwan

With the ups and downs of unreliable polling data, it is no surprise that observers of Egypt’s landmark presidential election have been fixating on the near-term competition between the presidential candidates. What remains in question is the legal and constitutional framework in which the next president will operate. A bold decision by the Supreme Council […]

New Atlanticist

May 22, 2012

The Lost Alliance: NATO in Chicago

By Tomas Ries

A ship is adrift in a foggy sea. The crew are in their bunks, the officers argue about their mortgages, and the captain has left. The captain has left because the United States no longer believes NATO can contribute significantly against any serious global strategic challenges. An occasional bit player, yes: a partner with the […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO

MENASource

May 22, 2012

Top News: Egypt Allows International Monitors to Begin Work

By Tarek Radwan

Egyptian authorities have finally allowed observers of this week’s presidential election to start work, monitoring groups said on Tuesday, too late for them to draw a full picture of Egypt’s first genuine leadership contest. Many international monitors arrived in April but waited weeks for the necessary paperwork, forcing them to miss most of an election […]

MENASource

May 22, 2012

Egyptians Asked for Change … But Are They Ready for It?

By Hoda Youssef

Nothing expresses a desire for change more powerfully than a revolution. The word “revolution” itself has always been synonymous with fundamental shifts and processes of change. In politics, “revolution” refers to an upheaval in which the incumbent government or system is replaced, but it also has an equally important significance in sociology, where it refers […]