Category: Blogs

Content

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2016

What Minsk Accord? Kremlin-Backed Militants Hold Luhansk Journalist Hostage for Year

By Halya Coynash

Eleven months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s agreement in Minsk that all prisoners must be released, Kremlin-backed militants are continuing to hold a number of prisoners, including many civilians, like 31-year-old Luhansk journalist Maria Varfolomeyeva. Varfolomeyeva worked for the local news website Svobodny Reporter and has worked as a fixer for various national media, including […]

Russia Ukraine

SyriaSource

Jan 19, 2016

Factors Driving the Destruction of Syria’s Natural Heritage

By Amr al-Faham

The Assad government has long neglected Syria’s environment and natural heritage in favor of actions that have short term gains but that have increased the rate of desertification and ruined agricultural land. The civil war has created a new set of problems: lack of protection for reservations, increased smuggling encouraged by a lack of law […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jan 19, 2016

Top News: January 19, 2016

By SyriaSource

– ISIS captures government held ground in eastern Syria – Four injured in blast at Turkish school near Syria– Dispute over opposition’s seat at table threatens to push back Syria peace talks– Iraq searching for three US citizens reportedly abducted – Battle against ISIS has turned Ramadi into a ghost town

Syria

MENASource

Jan 19, 2016

Top News: Libya’s Presidential Council Names New Government

By MENASource

Libya’s Presidential Council announced a new government on Tuesday, although two of its nine members rejected it in a sign of continuing divisions.

MENASource

Jan 19, 2016

Top News: Parliament Approves Terrorist Entities, Regulatory Bodies Laws

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s new parliament approved two controversial laws Sunday as it started reviewing legislation passed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since 2014. As the parliament races to meet its two-week deadline, Parliamentary Speaker Ali Abdel Aal urged MPs to expedite the ratification of decrees that were issued during the legislature’s three-year absence.

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2016

How to Help Ukraine: An Alternative Vision

By Vladislav Inozemtsev

Three former US Ambassadors to Ukraine recently wrote an op-ed article in the New York Times (“Investing in Ukraine’s Future,” December 30, 2015) that called for an increase in Western financial assistance to Ukraine and argued that the country is now “teetering on the brink.” I strongly support their willingness to stay firm against a […]

Russia Ukraine

MENASource

Jan 19, 2016

EconSource: Saudi Arabia Plans New Sovereign Wealth Fund

By EconSource

Saudi Arabia plans to create a new sovereign fund to manage part of its oil wealth and diversify its investments. It has asked investment banks and consultancies to submit proposals for the project.

UkraineAlert

Jan 19, 2016

How Ukraine’s Reformers Beat the Pharma Mafia

By Josh Cohen

A little over a month after US Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian legislators that graft was eating Ukraine “like a cancer,” an order from Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers struck a decisive blow against pharmaceutical corruption. This order outsources the purchasing of numerous medicines for seriously ill Ukrainians from the Ministry of Health to respected international […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Jan 18, 2016

Seven Key Reforms for Ukraine in 2016

By Anders Åslund

After Orthodox Christmas, I spent a few days in Kyiv. It is quite striking how the mood has changed in a positive direction. The 2016 budget and the modified tax code were adopted on December 24. After two weeks of well-deserved rest, there is a sudden realization that Ukraine accomplished many important economic reforms in […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2016

Taiwan Just Elected its First Female President. Here’s Why it Matters.

By Robert A. Manning

There was little ambiguity in the landslide victory of Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP): Tsai won 56.1 percent of the vote, nearly twice that of Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Eric Chu, and the DPP won sixty-eight of the 113 seats in parliament. The election victory of the DPP, whose charter includes the goal […]

China Indo-Pacific
Load More