Content

Commanders Series

May 20, 2015

US Drug Habit Deadly for Latin America

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Head of US Southern Command says terrorists could one day use criminal networks A demand in the United States for drugs—specifically cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines—is devastating communities across Latin America, says Marine Corps Gen John F. Kelly, Commander of US Southern Command. Illegal trafficking networks pose not just a security threat, they also have corrosive […]

Colombia Latin America

MENASource

May 20, 2015

EconSource: IMF Extends Standby Loan for Tunisia; Data Shows Fall in Industrial Activity

By EconSource

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it has extended a standby loan for Tunisia by seven months in order to give the North African nation more time to enact banking and fiscal reforms.

MENASource

May 20, 2015

Q&A: Everything You Need to Know About the Morsi Verdict

By EgyptSource

On May 16, Judge Shaaban al-Shami sentenced 122 defendants, including former president Mohamed Morsi, to death in two cases. Morsi was sentenced to death on prison break charges, and will be sentenced on espionage charges on June 2.

North Africa

MENASource

May 20, 2015

Libya: Is there Really an Alternative to Dialogue?

By Mohamed Eljarh

Libya continues to suffer the consequences from the ongoing political and armed struggle between various Libyan factions. The rise of the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) has further complicated matters—as has the reluctance of the international community to act assertively against other spoilers of the democratic process, contributing to Libya’s downward spiral into civil war […]

Libya

SyriaSource

May 19, 2015

Syria: What if the Regime Collapses?

By Frederic C. Hof

As noted in the May 18 MENASource article on civilian protection, an administration operationally inert in the face of Bashar al-Assad’s atrocities sees peril if Assad collapses too soon, which is to say nearly four years after President Barack Obama counseled him to step aside.

Syria
French Mistral warship, Nov. 25, 2006

NATOSource

May 19, 2015

France’s Orphaned Mistrals Can Solve a Sea of Troubles

By Blake Franko and Nicholas Varangis

As the European Union struggles to remain a unified and influential force for the 21st century, geopolitical developments have only made this goal more elusive.

European Union France

UkraineAlert

May 19, 2015

The West’s Failure of Nerve

By Stephen Blank

Poland and the Baltic states intend to ask NATO to station a battalion or even larger units on their territory. The Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—want a brigade so that each country can host a battalion or permanent rotational forces. Poland’s Foreign Minister, Grzegorz Schetyna, indicated that his government would request the permanent stationing of […]

Russia Ukraine

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

May 19, 2015

Top News: 1,850 Killed, Over 500,000 Displaced in Yemen, According to UN

By MENASource

The United Nations said that some 1,850 people had been killed and more than 500,000 displaced as a result of the conflict raging in Yemen since late March.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

May 19, 2015

Top News: Brotherhood Vows Retaliation Against Latest Execution

By EgyptSource

Mohamed Montaser, spokesperson for the banned Muslim Brotherhood, urged the Egyptian people to prepare for a heavy retaliation in response to the execution of six men sentenced to death by a military court.

UkraineAlert

May 19, 2015

Remembering Roman

By Melinda Haring and Simon Hoellerbauer

Every Memorial Day, friends leave small bottles of Jack Daniel’s and an American flag on Roman Kupchinsky’s gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery. Kupchinsky was a warrior, both on and off the battlefield. A man of passion who fought for his ideals with a singular determination, he devoted his life to seeing Ukraine become free. He […]

Ukraine