MENASource

Egypt’s Draft Constitution and Referendum: Useful Links

By EgyptSource

As Egypt’s expatriate community has completed voting, with a 15 percent voter turnout, and a 97.4 percent approval rate, and the country’s governorates gear up for a two-day referendum on the 2013 draft constitution on January 14 and 15, below are useful links to get up to speed on the text of the constitution and […]

Syrian Peace Talks: What is Achievable Near Term?

By Frederic C. Hof

We came together this morning, and we are planning for a Geneva II conference next week for a simple reason: because there is no military solution to the violence that has displaced millions and taken more than 130,000 lives. There is no other alternative to ending this violence and saving the state of Syria than […]

Top News: Expat Voter Turnout Low in Egypt Referendum

By EgyptSource

Approximately 103,000 expatriates, approximately 15 percent of registered expats, voted in the constitution referendum – significantly fewer than in 2012, the electoral committee told reporters on Monday. The largest turnouts were in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. Although the final count has yet to be established, the results have been overwhelmingly […]

Key Questions on Egypt’s Upcoming Referendum [Update]

As Egypt prepares to go to the polls once again, voting for a second constitution in the span of three years, following are key updates on the referendum taking place on January 14 and 15: 

The New Draft Constitution Part III: A Reactive Constitution

By Yussef Auf

Despite an increasingly volatile security situation and political climate, Egyptians are heading to the polls for the third time in less than three years to cast their votes on a new constitution. Given the state of the country however, the referendum will hardly be an accurate reflection of the text of the constitution itself. However, […]

Syria Ban Ki-moon’s Geneva Conference Invitation

By Frederic C. Hof

On January 6 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dispatched written invitations to a “Geneva Conference on Syria” in Switzerland to be convened under his chairmanship. The conference would open with a plenary “high-level format” in Montreux on January 22, where “international participants will be present to demonstrate their meaningful support for constructive negotiations between the […]

Anbar Awakening 2.0?

By Ramzy Mardini

The insurgency in Iraq had never truly ended. While its intensity was low for years, the progression of a neighboring insurgency in Syria was bound to spillover into Iraq, most especially Anbar province—the epicenter of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, which borders Syria.

Top News: Mubarak’s Last Prime Minister Shafik Interested in Running for Egyptian Presidency

By EgyptSource

Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, said in a television interview broadcast on Thursday that he would run for president if the army chief does not contest elections.