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MENASource

Nov 12, 2015

EconSource: Egypt Strengthens Currency Amid Disruptive Dollar Shortage

By EconSource

The Central Bank of Egypt strengthened the pound on Wednesday for the first time since 2013, injecting dollars into a banking system suffering from an acute foreign exchange shortage and raising expectations of a radical shift in monetary policy.

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

Will Saakashvili’s Defeat in Odesa Be His Ukrainian Waterloo?

By Brian Mefford

Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov trounced Solidarity Party’s Sasha Borovik by 53-26 percent in Ukraine’s local elections October 25. Observers reported carousel voting, multiple voting lists, exit poll workers agitating for candidates, and a suspiciously slow vote count. The race for Odesa mayor was a proxy war between Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili and oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

A Close (and Surprisingly Positive) Encounter with Odesa’s New Police

By Vladislav Davidzon

The reorganization and reform of Ukraine’s catastrophically corrupt police force was the top priority when President Petro Poroshenko appointed Eka Zguladze first deputy Interior Minister of Ukraine. Poroshenko wants to emulate the relative success that Georgia’s Rose Revolution reformers garnered in modernizing their small post-Soviet country. Zguladze is just one of the many Georgians who […]

The Caucasus Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2015

Failing on the Ukrainian Battlefield, Russia Turns to Terrorism

By Aaron Korewa

To understand how Russia conducts its foreign policy, simply look at what the Kremlin accuses everyone else of doing. Unlike the Soviet Union, which operated under a coherent ideology, the Russian government under President Vladimir Putin seems to believe that everybody is a cynical power player, and that the West is simply hypocritical about it. […]

Russia Ukraine

SyriaSource

Nov 10, 2015

Between Regime Brutality and Society’s Cruelty

By Khaled Rawas

“I will not forgive him, nor will I let God’s mercy descend onto him,” uttered a woman activist working to support rape victims at a secret humanitarian organization in Damascus. The activist leveled this charge not against the regime and its Shabiha militias—which use this most cruel weapon of war systematically to intimidate, suppress, and […]

Syria

MENASource

Nov 10, 2015

Libya: Back to Square One?

By Karim Mezran

Many authoritative commentators have already expressed their astonishment at the scandal enveloping the United Nations and the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Their shock is indeed justified.

Libya

Bremain vs Brexit

Nov 10, 2015

David Cameron Wants EU to Reform. Will He Get His Way?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

British Prime Minister unlikely to get his way on curbing welfare payments to EU migrants, says Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell British Prime Minister David Cameron will likely get some of his demands for reform of the European Union, but on at least one — curbing welfare payments for EU citizens migrating to the United Kingdom […]

European Union International Organizations

SyriaSource

Nov 10, 2015

Top News: November 10, 2015

By SyriaSource

– Next round of Syria talks in Vienna on Saturday– Clashes near Syrian base besieged by ISIS– Militants shell Syrian city of Latakia– ICRC works to avoid massive water crisis in Aleppo– Turkey detains eighteen al-Qaeda suspects, days before G20– Turkey’s Erdogan calls for new constitution, reform in next four years– Attacks kill at least […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Nov 10, 2015

Renegotiate TPP? Fuggedaboutit

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Obama administration rules out reopening trade deal with eleven Pacific Rim nations The Obama administration will not renegotiate a trade deal it spent more than five years negotiating with eleven other Pacific Rim countries, a White House official said on Nov. 10. “Renegotiation is just not an option because if you open up the issues, […]

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

UkraineAlert

Nov 10, 2015

Judiciary Reforms Take a Major Step Forward in Ukraine

By Joshua Solomon

As conflict flares up on Ukraine’s eastern front, a different campaign rages in the conference rooms of Kyiv. The administration of President Petro Poroshenko is overhauling the Ukrainian state, amending everything from the constitution to the tax code. The most important reform may be the creation of an independent judiciary. As Anders Åslund pointed out this […]

Ukraine
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