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New Atlanticist

Jul 16, 2015

Perspective on the Iran-P5+1 Nuclear Agreement

By Owen Daniels

After twenty months of negotiations, US, European, and Iranian leaders announced early Tuesday morning that a deal had been reached to secure the peaceful future of Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation
General Sir Nicholas Houghton, Chief of the UK Defense Staff. April 4, 2013

NATOSource

Jul 16, 2015

Top Military Officer Identifies UK Mistakes and Makes Powerful Case for Strong Defense

By Nicholas Houghton, Ministry of Defense

[F]or 25 years the United Kingdom, together with much of the Western world and most of our NATO Allies, has been investing less in our capacity to conduct serious war fighting.

NATO Security & Defense

MENASource

Jul 16, 2015

Is the Skhirat Agreement Libya’s First Step to a Brighter Future?

By Karim Mezran

The agreement signed last Saturday by most Libyan factions in the Moroccan city of Skhirat represents an undoubtedly positive step forward, though not one exempt from possible pitfalls and reversals. The agreement arose from an ongoing Libyan political dialogue, moderated by UN Envoy Bernardino Leon, geared toward reaching national reconciliation among warring factions.

Libya

SyriaSource

Jul 16, 2015

Syria: Preempting the Worst, Should Assad Fall

By Frederic C. Hof

Recent Assad regime reverses on Syrian battlefields have revived Obama administration fears of “catastrophic success:” that the person told by President Barack Obama in August 2011 to step aside might instead be pushed aside and that his fall could entail a regime collapse exploited by extremists intent on avenging the mass homicide atrocities of the […]

Syria
UK Gen. Sir Nicholas Houghton and US Gen. Martin Dempsey, Jan. 22, 2015

NATOSource

Jul 16, 2015

UK Defense Chief Sees Air Force Combat Jet Fleet Stretched

By Robert Wall, Wall Street Journal

Britain’s top military officer said Wednesday the country’s fleet of combat jets is stretched to the limit and could struggle to take on additional roles in fighting Islamist extremists in the Middle East without scaling back elsewhere.

Iraq Syria

New Atlanticist

Jul 16, 2015

Libya Needs a Little Help from its Friends

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council’s Karim Mezran says peace deal, even if incomplete, can succeed with strong international support Even if a Tripoli-based faction were to set aside its grievances and sign a UN-brokered peace deal that would not be enough to rescue Libya. What the North African nation needs is an international peacekeeping force with a clear […]

Libya

MENASource

Jul 16, 2015

Recent Congressional Developments on Egypt Aid

By Amy Hawthorne and Elissa Miller

The US Senate and House of Representatives appropriations committees have now each passed their versions of the bills that fund the foreign assistance programs for the new Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 that begins on October 1.

North Africa

MENASource

Jul 16, 2015

Top News: Sinai State Claims Responsibility for Attack on Navy Vessel

By EgyptSource

The Islamic State’s affiliate in Egypt’s Sinai says it has destroyed an Egyptian navy vessel with a rocket off the strategic peninsula’s Mediterranean coast.

MENASource

Jul 16, 2015

Top News: Exiled Yemeni Ministers Return to Aden

By MENASource

Senior members of Yemen’s exiled administration flew into Aden on Thursday to make preparations for the government’s return, an official said, three months after being pushed out by the armed Houthi group. The visit by ministers and intelligence officials follows military setbacks for the Houthis at the hands of Saudi-backed Yemeni fighters, which may mark […]

MENASource

Jul 16, 2015

EconSource: Saudi Bond Issues to Soar as Government Plugs Deficit

By EconSource

Bond issues by Saudi Arabia’s government are expected to be worth tens of billions of dollars by the end of 2015 as the state ramps up debt sales to fill a gap in finances created by low prices for oil exports.