Category: Blogs

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.

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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.

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.

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 […]

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.

Ukraine Bank Deputy Dmytro Solohub: Economic recovery ‘difficult, but still possible’

Dmytro Solohub admits that the Ukrainian economy is “very fragile” and faces “lots of security risks”— but says he’s doing everything he can to stabilize Ukraine’s currency, control galloping inflation, and return his country to prosperity as quickly as possible. Solohub, 37, took over in mid-March as Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine […]

Russia Invited to Observe Key NATO Military Exercise

By Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal

Among the guests invited to observe the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s biggest military exercise in more than a decade will be the alliance’s once, and potentially future, adversary: the Russians.