Category: Blogs

Top News: US Wants Drones to Combat Islamic State in Libya; US Confirms Tunisia’s “non-NATO ally” Status

By MENASource

The United States is in talks with North African countries about positioning drones at a base on their soil to ramp up surveillance of the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) in Libya. It would be the most significant expansion of the campaign against the extremist group in the region.

Ukraine Must Put Reform Agenda in Overdrive While There’s Still Time

By Anders Åslund

Kyiv is vibrant with intellectual and political discussions. As after any revolution the debate is about what is wrong and what should be done. Policy people acknowledge that reforms are proceeding but too slowly, while a typical business verdict is that corruption is as bad as before, but it has become more disorganized, since the […]

Top News: One killed, Ten Injured in Car Bomb Blast at Italian Consulate in Cairo

By EgyptSource

A powerful blast left at least one dead in front of the Italian Consulate in downtown Cairo Saturday, the second car bomb attack in the Egyptian capital in less than a fortnight.

EconSource: Tunisia Sees Growth at 1 Percent This Year

By EconSource

Tunisia’s economic growth is expected to slow to about 1 percent this year, compared with 2.3 percent in 2014, Finance Minister Slim Chaker told Reuters.

Here’s Why European Disunity is a Greater Threat to Ukraine Than Russia

By Aaron Korewa

As the Greek tragedy unfolds, many Europeans seem to have forgotten that for the first time since the end of World War II, a country is trying to redraw European borders by force. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for rebels in eastern Ukraine is, by far, Europe’s most serious security crisis since the […]

Ukraine’s Dangerous Drive to Decentralize

By Maksym Khylko

Here’s Why the West Should Stop Pushing Decentralization Now  In the coming days the Ukrainian parliament is expected to debate a draft law that would amend Ukraine’s Constitution on decentralization to expand local governments’ powers. The West has enthusiastically encouraged Ukraine to embrace decentralization, provide special status for the Donbas, and hold local elections in […]

#CounteringISISpropaganda

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Web-savvy extremists dominate discourse on social media Web-savvy extremists belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and their online cohort of supporters dominate the conversation on Twitter leaving little hope for the success of US efforts to counter that propaganda, according to a former State Department official. “ISIS has created, using this […]

Three Main Takeaways from Gen Dunford’s Nomination Hearing

Gen Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., the Commandant of the Marine Corps, testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 9 to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He looks likely to be confirmed, and analysis already exists about what kind of job he will do if he assumes […]

Japan Interested in Joining NATO Missile Consortium

By Reuters and Wall Street Journal

From Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo, Reuters:  Japan is interested in joining a NATO missile building consortium that would give Tokyo its first taste of a multinational defense project, a move the U.S. Navy is encouraging

Syrian No-Fly Zone: From Slogans to Details

By Frederic C. Hof

The Washington Post, on July 10th,contained an impressive commentary authored by Atlantic Council Director Nicholas Burns and International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband.  In Syria’s Worsening Refugee Crisis Demands Action from the West, the authors argue—among other things—that, “The debate about a no-fly zone across Syria to protect civilians from the Assad government’s deadly ‘barrel bombs’ needs to […]