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NATOSource

Feb 9, 2012

Ukraine’s President Yanukovych sacks his Defense Minister

By Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:  Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has sacked Defense Minister Mykhailo Yezhel, replacing him with Dmytro Salamatin.

Ukraine

NATOSource

Feb 9, 2012

Turkish court summons spy chief over PKK talks

By Daniel Dombey, the Financial Times

MENASource

Feb 9, 2012

Top News: SCAF Claims “Damning Evidence” Against Accused NGOs

By Mara Revkin

The SCAF issued a defiant statement on February 9, asserting that Egypt’s international relations with the US are governed by the common interests of both parties, and that "Egypt does not bow to the domination of anyone." The SCAF reiterated that the NGO case is in the hands of the judiciary, noting that the Ministry […]

MENASource

Feb 9, 2012

Egypt’s Constitution: Conflicting Visions

By Mara Revkin

In the wake of the deadly Port Said soccer riot on February 1, fears that a new Egyptian constitution will produce a dysfunctional and undemocratic outcome are rapidly coming to a head. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has been pushing to draft a new constitution at breakneck speed, and its most recent […]

NATOSource

Feb 9, 2012

Germany Expels Four Syrian Diplomats in Spy Case

By Nicholas Kulish and Alan Cowell, the New  York Times

From Nicholas Kulish and Alan Cowell, the New  York Times:  As tensions mount between Western nations and Syria, the German authorities said on Thursday they had ordered the expulsion of four Syrian diplomats after arresting two men accused separately of spying on opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

United States and Canada

NATOSource

Feb 9, 2012

Why Russia Supports Assad

By Dimitri Trenin, the International Herald Tribune

From Dimitri Trenin, the International Herald Tribune:  The Russian government is openly conservative; it abhors revolutions.

United States and Canada

NATOSource

Feb 9, 2012

Republicans need more than rhetoric on defense

By George F. Will, the Washington Post

From George F. Will, the Washington Post:  The U.S. defense budget is about 43 percent of the world’s total military spending — more than the combined defense spending of the next 17 nations, many of which are U.S. allies.

United Kingdom United States and Canada

MENASource

Feb 9, 2012

SCAF’s Complicity in Port Said Violence Cannot Go Unpunished

By Bahaa Hashem

 When Hosni Mubarak’s former Interior Minister Habib El-Adly headed Egypt’s feared and notoriously repressive security apparatus, the ministry amended its former slogan, “The police serve the people” to “The police and the people serve the nation,” signaling a subtle yet insidious shift in the institution’s philosophy and mission. After the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last […]

NATOSource

Feb 9, 2012

Adbusters Wants 50,000 G8/NATO Protesters in Chicago

By Lisa Balde and Phil Rogers, NBC Chicago

From Lisa Balde and Phil Rogers, NBC Chicago:  The activist group that helped initiate Occupy Wall Street is rallying troops for a "big bang in Chicago" ahead of the G8/NATO summits this May.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Feb 9, 2012

Israel, Iran and the United States: All Options Are Bad!

By Don Snow

The growing confrontation between Israel and Iran over the Iranian nuclear weapons program is spinning perilously out of hand, and it has within it the seeds of the most potentially dangerous threat to international peace since the Cold War ended over 20 years ago. What we are witnessing is a verbal run-up to a military […]

Iran Israel