Category: Blogs

Vienna II: Civilian Protection Lite

By Frederic C. Hof

The countries and organizations attending the second round of Syria talks in Vienna, now calling themselves the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), gave short shrift in their written statement to those Syrians most in need of their support: the victims—past, present, and future—of the Assad regime’s relentless program of mass homicide. Buried in a pile […]

Top News: After Paris Attacks, French Jets Pound ISIS

By MENASource

French fighter jets struck areas controlled by ISIS in Syria on Sunday as European police widened investigations into a series of coordinated attacks in Paris. President Bashar al-Assad said in response to the Paris attacks, “We said, don’t take what is happening in Syria lightly. Unfortunately, European officials did not listen.”

Top News: Egyptian Injured in Paris Attacks Mistakenly Labeled a Suspect

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s Ambassador to France Ihab Badawi said that an Egyptian passport recovered following a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday belongs to Egyptian national Walid Abdel Razek.

Slowly But Surely Kyiv Comes Around

By Alexander Motyl

How has Ukraine changed since the Euromaidan Revolution? In attempting to answer this question, I’ve used the governance-related categories in Freedom House’s Nations in Transit study, which tracks the reform record of post-Communist countries in Europe and Eurasia, and supplemented them with a few of my own. (Full disclosure: I’ve been involved in the Nations […]

EconSource: Turkey’s Erdogan Says Interest Rates Too High to Encourage Investment

By EconSource

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan renewed his call for lower interest rates on Sunday, saying they were too high to encourage investment and entrepreneurship.

‘It is Time to Take the Diplomatic, Military, and Cyber Gloves Off’

Atlantic Council analysts react to ISIS’ attacks in Paris The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed more than 120 people on Nov. 13 — the deadliest attack in Europe since the 2004 train bombings in Madrid. French President François Hollande said the attack […]

A Zanzibar-Size Blemish on Tanzania’s Election

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Electoral panel’s decision to nullify Zanzibar vote must be recalled, says President of International Republican Institute Tanzania faces a crucial test of its commitment to multiparty democracy in the wake of October elections that were marred by the annulment of voting in the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, Mark Green, a former US Ambassador to Tanzania, […]

‘Rehumanizing’ War

By Alejandro Alvarez

After Veterans Day, authors urge public to remember human element of war A critical divide between the American public and military needs to be overcome to best provide for veterans returning home from war, said a VA official and authors at the Atlantic Council on Nov. 12. “Ignorance flourishes amid apathy, and we are a […]

Top News: ISIS Claims Deadly Twin Beirut Explosions

By MENASource

At least thirty-seven people were killed and more than 181 wounded on Thursday after two suicide bomb blasts, claimed by ISIS, hit a crowded district in Beirut’s southern suburbs.