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AfricaSource

Dec 13, 2016

The EU’s “money-for-migration” deal with Mali won’t work

By Julian Wyss

Over the weekend, European Union (EU) officials struck a deal with the West African nation of Mali to provide development funds in exchange for the country accepting the return of Malians whose asylum requests have been refused in Europe. While all the details of the agreement have yet to be announced, a brief statement by […]

Migration Sahel
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and President of the European Council Donald Tusk, Dec. 13, 2016

NATOSource

Dec 13, 2016

Taking EU-NATO Cooperation to a New Level

By Donald Tusk, Jean-Claude Juncker, and Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

Rising from the ashes of World War II, NATO and what is now the European Union were created with one goal: to prevent the horrors of another war in Europe….

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Dec 13, 2016

US Must Deliver a ‘Painful’ Response to Putin for Russian Meddling

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Former acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Michael Morell, on Russia, Donald Trump, and the US intelligence community There are huge national security implications of Russia’s meddling in the US presidential elections, which is why the Obama administration must deliver an overt response that is painful to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Michael Morell, […]

Cybersecurity Russia

New Atlanticist

Dec 13, 2016

Peak Demand Comes to Paris

By Robert J. Johnston

December 5 was probably not a happy day for tourists in Paris. The good news was the traffic was much better than usual, and the Metro and other forms of public transit were free. The bad news was that the city was having yet another pollution crisis. Choking smog and murky air are often associated […]

Energy & Environment

SyriaSource

Dec 13, 2016

Report Summary: Air Strikes in Deir Ezzor

By Brittany Keroack

This article summarizes a report by the Justice for Life Observatory (JFL) in Deir Ezzor. The report, titled Deir EzZor: The Dust of Warplanes, catalogs bombings by all actors—Russia, the regime, and the US-led anti-ISIS coalition—in the besieged city of Deir Ezzor. However, it is not meant to serve as an exhaustive list of air […]

Syria
NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, Oct. 17, 2016

NATOSource

Dec 13, 2016

Trump Team Working to Remove Top NATO Official

By Josh Rogin, Washington Post

The incoming Trump administration is looking to get rid of the No. 2 official at NATO, an American nominated by President Obama whom most Republicans don’t trust.

NATO Security & Defense

UkraineAlert

Dec 13, 2016

Q&A: What Does a Friend of Putin at Foggy Bottom Mean for Ukraine?

By Melinda Haring

President-elect Donald Trump has picked ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally bestowed Russia’s Order of Friendship on Tillerson. As CEO of ExxonMobil, he’s argued for sanctions relief on Russia. By October 2016, some reports estimate that Exxon has lost $1 billion because of White House […]

Russia Ukraine

IranSource

Dec 12, 2016

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards See Golden Opportunity in U.S. Sanctions

By Shahir Shahidsaless

The December 5 issue of the weekly Sobhe Sadeq, the political organ of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was filled with commentaries on the recent passage of the Iran Sanctions Extension Act (ISA) by the U.S. Congress that have important implications for Iran’s domestic politics as well as nuclear policies. 

SyriaSource

Dec 12, 2016

Why the Opposition Can’t Fight in the Coastal Mountains

By Saleem al-Omar

Frequently, activists of different stripes call for revenge against the regime for Aleppo or the Damascus countryside by opening the Syrian coastal front where, during the last four years (prior to the Russian intervention), the opposition controlled wide swaths of the mountains. That is, until the Russians forced the opposition groups to withdraw and only […]

Syria

MENASource

Dec 12, 2016

Tunisia’s 2017 Budget: The Rocky Way Ahead

By Karim Mezran and Elissa Miller

On December 10, following weeks of negotiations, Tunisia’s parliament approved a $14 billion budget for 2017. The budget includes a number of provisions aimed at cutting the country’s deficit in line with the economic reform plan of Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, who was appointed in August of this year. However, the controversy surrounding the budget […]

North Africa
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