MENASource

Top News: Court to Rule on July 2 in Lawsuit Calling for Facebook to Be Blocked in Egypt

By EgyptSource

The State Council’s administrative court will look into a lawsuit calling for blocking Facebook services in Egypt on July 2. The lawsuit argues that Facebook is used to spread immorality, rumors, and falsified news detrimental to the state.

A US Defense Treaty with the Gulf States: Why Values Matter

By Richard LeBaron

In an Atlantic Council report and subsequent article in The National Interest, my colleagues Barry Pavel and Bilal Saab at the Brent Scowcroft Center of the Atlantic Council have made a case for a formal alliance with US security partners in the Gulf.

EconSource: IMF May Agree on $800 Million Loan to Iraq in Weeks

By EconSource

Iraq has requested financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and may reach an agreement within weeks on a loan of about $800 million, a senior IMF official said.

US Role in GCC Security: Lessons from the Taiwan Case

By Robert A. Manning

The upcoming Camp David Summit with nervous Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders has the Obama administration casting about for ways to enhance security assurances.

Top News: US Religious Commission Categorizes Egypt as ‘Country of Particular Concern’

By EgyptSource

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom for the fifth year in a row is recommending that the State Department categorize Egypt as a “country of particular concern” subject to sanctions. The Obama administration has repeatedly ignored that advice, and even those lawmakers most invested in the issue of religious freedom hope to keep it […]

Top News: Saudi-Led Troops in Yemen

By MENASource

At least twenty troops from a Saudi-led Arab coalition came ashore Sunday in the southern port city of Aden on what military officials called a “reconnaissance” mission, as fighting raged between Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the nation’s exiled President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi.

EconSource: ISIS Again Pushing to Capture Iraq Refinery at Baiji

By EconSource

Islamic State militants (ISIS or ISIL) took control of half Iraq’s largest oil refinery over the weekend and cut supply lines to the 150 or so government troops who were holding out inside the facility.

Tunisia Walking a Tightrope

By Karim Mezran and Lara Talverdian

Whether one speaks to a taxi driver, a bureaucrat, an activist, or a politician, Tunisians agree: their country’s two primary challenges are security and the economy. During a research trip to Tunis in April, all of those interviewed unequivocally cited these interlinked concerns in response to questions about Tunisia’s obstacles.

Top News: Turkey Marks Tense May Day as Police Enforce Lockdown

As demonstrations are underway throughout Turkey to mark May Day, Turkish police have detained at least 136 people around Istanbul’s Taksim Square, which is on lockdown today. The police have also used teargas and water cannons to disperse crowds.

Yemen: A View from Marib

By Nadwa Al-Dawsari

It has now been more than a year since Ahmed Ashulaif, a distinguished fifty year-old businessman and tribal leader from Marib, put his business on hold. Since then, he has fought to stop the Houthis, a Zaydi-Shia rebel group that took control of Yemen’s capital and ousted its government in September 2014.