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SyriaSource

Feb 23, 2016

Top News: February 23, 2016

By SyriaSource

– Experts identify new cases of Syria chemical attacks– UN says major powers feeding ‘military escalation’ in Syria– UK, Turkey, Assad, and opposition skeptical over ceasefire – Assad sets April 13 for parliamentary elections – Russia, with Turkey in mind, announces big weapons deal with Armenia

Syria

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2016

‘Real Political Dialogue’ Needed to Get Venezuela Out of Crisis

By Mitch Hulse

US official prescribes economic integration, as well, to address political and economic instability in Latin America Venezuela will have to allow “real political dialogue” if it is to extract itself from the economic crisis in which it is mired as a result of historically low oil prices and political instability, according to a senior US […]

Venezuela

SyriaSource

Feb 22, 2016

Cynicism and Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

As noted repeatedly in these pages, Secretary of State John Kerry has spared no effort to reduce violence, increase humanitarian aid, and promote negotiations for political transition in Syria. That he does so with leverage amounting to a smile and a shoeshine is not his fault. That he relies totally on the goodwill, decency, and […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Feb 22, 2016

Top News: February 22, 2016

By SyriaSource

– ISIS bombings kill nearly 130 people in Syria– Kerry and Lavrov reach provisional deal on ceasefire– Extremists cut government supply route to Syria’s Aleppo– Kurdish militant group TAK claims responsibility for Ankara car bomb

Syria

MENASource

Feb 22, 2016

Top News: ISIS bombings kill nearly 130 people in Syria

By MENASource

Bombings claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) in the Syrian cities of Damascus and Homs killed nearly 130 people on Sunday. A series of blasts ripped through the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of Damascus, killing at least 83 people and wounding more than 170, the official SANA news agency said.

MENASource

Feb 22, 2016

Top News: Novelist Ahmed Naji Handed Two Years in Prison After Initial Acquittal

By EgyptSource

An Egyptian court has sentenced an author to two years in jail for public indecency after excerpts of his sexually explicit novel were published in a literary newspaper. A chapter from Ahmed Naji’s novel Istikhdam al-Hayat, or Using Life, was serialized in a state-owned literary newspaper and a case was brought against him last year […]

North Africa Political Reform

MENASource

Feb 22, 2016

EconSource: IMF Says Confident Gulf Oil Exporters Can Adjust, Urges Taxes

By EconSource

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Monday that she is confident the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies can implement the large fiscal adjustments they need to cope with low oil prices.

MENASource

Feb 22, 2016

Libya and the West: Intervention without a Cause?

By Karim Mezran and Arturo Varvelli

The premise at the base of any armed intervention is to have a clear political aim. An intervention, therefore, must be assessed in terms of modalities and opportunities—an obvious yet often neglected principle. US, Italian, French, and British spokespersons over the last few weeks expressed a desire to intervene in Libya. The two main reasons […]

Libya

UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2016

Russia’s Pernicious Hybrid War Against Ukraine

By Andreas Umland

In recent months, the relative calming of the Russian-Ukrainian war in the Donbas has led many observers to describe this confrontation as yet another “frozen conflict” in the post-Soviet space. Yet even if Russian military activities ceased completely, the analogy is misleading. It is not always understood that Ukraine’s neighbor to the east is actively […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Feb 22, 2016

How Soft Power Works: Russian Passportization and Compatriot Policies Paved Way for Crimean Annexation and War in Donbas

By Agnia Grigas

The following is an edited excerpt from Agnia Grigas’ new book, Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire. The book examines Moscow’s policies toward Russian compatriots in former Soviet republics, including Ukraine where they laid the groundwork for Crimea’s annexation and the conflict in the Donbas. Moscow’s policies towards its “compatriots”—loosely defined as ethnic Russians, Russian […]

Russia Ukraine
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