Category: Blogs

Iran: The Costs of Diplomatic Single-Tracking

By Frederic C. Hof

Head counting in Congress indicates that President Barack Obama is closing in on veto-proof numbers as he seeks to implement the Iranian nuclear agreement. Indeed, he may well acquire the requisite number of Senate supporters (forty-one) to prevent a resolution of disapproval from even getting a vote in the upper house.

Outflows of ‘Hot Money’ Exacerbate Europe’s Growing Refugee Crisis

By Diane Francis

The recent collapse in stock markets and the sudden flow of refugees into Europe led world headlines in August—in a convergence of phenomena that are closely linked. Unprecedented flows of hot, or illicit, money are damaging most economies, causing both investors and migrants to flee. Ironically, China has outperformed all other economies, even though it […]

Top News: Turkey PM Forms Interim Government

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday approved the makeup of the provisional government that will run the country until November 1 elections, including for the first time pro-Kurdish parliamentary members.

Top News: Al Jazeera Journalists Sentenced; Parliamentary Elections Dates Announced

By EgyptSource

Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to three years in prison Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste, and Baher Mohamed to three years in a maximum security prison. Mohamed was sentenced to an additional six months in prison and fined EGP5,000. Students Sohaib Said, Khaled Abdel Raouf, and Shadi Abdel Hamid were […]

EconSource: Italy’s Eni Makes Mega Gas Discovery Off Egyptian Coast

By EconSource

Italian energy group Eni said on Sunday that it discovered the largest known gas field in the Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast, predicting the find could help meet Egypt’s gas needs for decades to come.

Lviv Welcomes Crimean Tatar Community With Open Arms

By Matthew Kupfer

The Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014 is widely regarded as a tragedy for Crimean Tatars. But for Adile Namazova, it was also a professional catastrophe. A recent university graduate with near flawless English, Namazova, 22, had been working as a language tutor before annexation. But once Crimea changed hands, travelers stopped coming, food […]

Russian Narrative of Ukraine Conflict Fails to Sway Opinions in Odesa

By Ruben Gzirian

Eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region is strewn with remnants of Russian-made cartridges from AK-74U rifles, littered with the splintered, hollowed-out ruins of Russian-made BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, and scarred with the skeletons of Russian T-74B battle tanks. Yet the Kremlin’s incursion into Ukrainian territory is not isolated to the Donbas. Its influence has also permeated the […]

Ukraine Must Privatize Failing State-Owned Enterprises Quickly

By Anders Åslund

Privatization has generated controversy in every post-communist country. Ministers of privatization are usually accused of heinous crimes, regardless of how impeccably they have performed their jobs. Yet privatization is vital for all such nations, not least for Ukraine. The goal must be to limit state-owned enterprises so that the private sector dominates. The aim isn’t […]

The Many Variants of Russian Cyber Espionage

By Patrik Maldre, ICDS

Last week, the IT security firm Trend Micro shined a light on yet another case of alleged Russian cyber espionage as part of a report on Operation Pawn Storm.