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UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2016

Putin’s Next Potential Target: The Baltic States

By Stephen Blank

Although Russia’s economy is reeling and its military forces are increasingly engaged in Syria and Ukraine, NATO commanders, governments, and analysts are concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adventurism has not run its course. Most anxieties focus on the Baltic states as Russia’s next potential military target. Russia has many advantages in the Baltics. The […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 5, 2016

From Ordinary Business Trip to Russian Jail: Former Ukrainian Political Prisoner Exhorts West to Keep Pressure on Russia

By Yuriy Yatsenko

Editor’s Note: Yuriy Yatsenko testified before the US Helsinki Commission in Washington on December 11, 2015. His remarks have been shortened. I am a Ukrainian citizen who was illegally arrested and detained by the Russian Federation for over a year for political reasons. Nadiya Savchenko, Oleg Sentsov, and others who are less known have suffered and […]

Russia Ukraine

MENASource

Jan 5, 2016

EconSource: Saudi Arabia to Support Egypt with $3 Billion of Loans, Grants

By EconSource

Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide Egypt with more than $3 billion in loans and grants to support the country’s economy. The kingdom will loan Egypt $1.5 billion to develop the Sinai Peninsula and $1.2 billion to finance Egypt’s oil purchases, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said.

MENASource

Jan 4, 2016

Top News: Tunisian Writer Deported at Cairo Airport, Labeled ‘National Security’ Threat

By EgyptSource

Tunisian writer Amel Grami was deported from Cairo International Airport on Sunday and denied entry into Egypt, despite being invited to participate in a conference by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

New Atlanticist

Jan 4, 2016

The Saudi/Iran Break: Politics of Fear in the Gulf

By Richard LeBaron

Saudi Arabia’s decision to break diplomatic ties with Iran represents another chapter in the politics of fear that have dominated Saudi military and diplomatic moves since the ascension of King Salman just shy of a year ago. The fear finds its main source in the Saudi conviction that Iran is intent on displacing it as […]

International Organizations Iran
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, Nov. 16, 2015

NATOSource

Jan 4, 2016

Warsaw May Reach EU Compromise with UK, If It Leads to NATO Force in Poland

By Wiktor Szary and Justyna Pawlak, Reuters

Poland could be open to compromise over British demands to limit the rights of European Union migrants if London helps it bolster the NATO presence in central Europe, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told Reuters.

NATO Poland

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2016

Putin’s Fragile Popularity

By Andreas Umland

One of the mantras of today’s Kremlin apologists, as well as of some self-described political realists, is that current Russian President Vladimir Putin is unusually popular among Russians. In the interest of pragmatism, they say, the West should acknowledge this allegedly hard fact and adapt its policies accordingly—i.e., try to rebuild a partnership with Russia’s […]

Russia

SyriaSource

Jan 4, 2016

Top News: January 4, 2016

By SyriaSource

– Arab-Kurd fighters kill 16 ISIS militants near Raqqa– French military says air strikes destroy ISIS missile factory; French jets strike ISIS oil sites– Attack on Iraqi military base kills at least 12; ISIS attacks Ramadi as security forces extend control– Turkey, Israel need each other, Erdogan says

Syria

MENASource

Jan 4, 2016

Top News: Syrian rebel group backs cutting ties with Iran; EU warns of risks to peace

By MENASource

Syrian insurgent group Jaysh al-Islam on Monday welcomed Saudi Arabia’s rupture of ties with Iran, saying Tehran’s backing of Shia militias was destabilizing the Middle East and stoking sectarian tensions in Syria.

UkraineAlert

Jan 4, 2016

What Will 2016 Mean for Ukraine?

By Aaron Korewa

In 2015, Ukraine proved it wasn’t a pushover. The country united in the face of Russian aggression and Russian President Vladimir Putin learned that if he wanted his Novorossiya project, it was going to cost him more than a few little green men. Notably, the war in Ukraine was completely absent from Putin’s December 2015 […]

Russia Ukraine