Category: Blogs

Georgia Needs a Shorter Path for Membership in NATO, not a MAP

By Mamuka Tsereteli

The Warsaw summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has a chance to become another milestone in the history of the organization, if the alliance chooses to take the next step forward towards further enlargement. There are several aspirant countries expecting bold decisions. Georgia is one of them. The Georgian government is taking a […]

Egypt’s Fight for Independent Journalist Unions

By Miriam Berger

The headquarters for the Independent Union for Egyptian Journalists is a small office shared with a media rights group, just steps away from the Middle East News Agency (MENA), one of the main organs of the Egyptian government’s media machine in downtown Cairo. This way, explained founder Wael Tawfik in April, the syndicate can be close to […]

Top News: Explosion in Turkish-Syrian Border Town Kills Twenty-Eight

An explosion Monday in Turkey’s southeastern city of Suruc killed twenty-eight people and sent one hundred others to the hospital. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but a Turkish official said there is evidence that the attack was a suicide bombing and was likely carried out by the Islamic State (ISIS […]

Europe, Brace Yourself. Russia Sees Iran Deal as Means to Kill Missile Defense

By Stephen Blank

On July 14, hours after the United States, Russia and four other world powers concluded a nuclear accord with Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared that the deal negated any reason for a US missile defense network in Europe. We should now prepare ourselves for the inevitable political and propaganda onslaught Russia will mount […]

EconSource: Egypt, Italy to Sign MOUs on Energy Deals; Eni Discovers Gas Reserves in Nile Delta

By EconSource

Egypt’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab will travel to Italy Wednesday for a three-day visit that will see him signing memorandum of understanding (MOUs) on prospective electricity, power and oil deals.

Top News: Twenty-Nine Men Arrested for Sexual Harassment

By EgyptSource

Police in Cairo arrested twenty-nine men for sexual harassment on the first two days of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, Al-Ahram reported.

Russian Disinformation Alienates the West from Russian Periphery

By James J. Coyle

The Russian Army has released a photo of a Ukrainian tank decorated with a swastika, yet the original Reuters photograph shows no such emblem. Russia also released a photo of a Ukrainian soldier covered in Nazi tattoos, but that picture was actually taken in 2005, inside a Russian prison. Europe is revolted by any reminders […]

No One Feels Safe in the New Crimea

By Taras Berezovets

Sixteen months after Russia’s March 2014 annexation of Crimea, the peninsula’s human rights situation is getting progressively worse. The first wave of repression targeted mainly pro-Ukrainian activists and Crimean Tatars, while in 2015 the Kremlin’s victims have been Slavs: Ukrainians and Russians. Since early this year, Russian authorities have forcibly resettled thousands of self-sufficient businessmen […]

Finland To Deploy Quick Response Units Along Russian Border

By Gerard O'Dwyer, Defense News

Finland’s Armed Forces Command has added a quick response dynamic with plans to locate rapid reaction units (RRUs) to military districts that fall under the command of the country’s four military provinces.

TTIP Action – July 16

By Global Business & Economics Program

US Trade Representative Michael Froman will meet with his fellow trade ministers at a TPP summit from July 28-31 in Hawaii. This Week’s Trade Highlights A recent research paper from the Peterson Institute for International Economics argues that the real benefit of any transatlantic agreement would come from eliminating non-tariff barriers such as regulatory disparities, […]