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MENASource

Feb 3, 2015

EconSource: Jordan Central Bank Cuts Rates by 25 bps as Inflation Slows

By EconSource

Jordan’s Central Bank announced it would cut its benchmark lending rates by 25 basis point. This marks the first reduction since last june, following a record build-up in foreign reserves and an improved inflation outlook. The bank attributed its decision to a combination of slowing inflation, the increased attractiveness of dinar-denominated assets and a big […]

MENASource

Feb 3, 2015

The Myth of Libya’s Wealth

By Lydia Sizer

Observing events in Libya since the revolution has often been like watching someone set his dining room table while the house is on fire. Urgent problems go unattended while people try to act as if everything were normal—or at least as if there was no active conflict:

Libya

UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2015

Will Moldova’s Dangerous Political Deadlock Force Out Its Prime Minister?

By New Atlanticist

Foreign Minister and Europeanist Nataliya Gherman May Become Next Leader Moldova’s political parties are deadlocked on forming a government, and the parliament has until next week (February 12) to either confirm Prime Minister Iurie Leanca in his post or find an alternative. But Leanca is sure of having only 42 of the 51 votes he […]

Moldova

UkraineAlert

Feb 3, 2015

US Should Provide Arms, Military Aid to Ukraine, Eight Ex-Officials Say

By New Atlanticist

‘We Face a Critical Juncture’ in Halting Russian Aggression in Eastern Europe, Group Says Eight former senior US officials—diplomats, ranking Pentagon and State Department office-holders, military commanders and US appointees to NATO—today urged the Obama administration and its NATO allies to strengthen support for Ukraine by urgently providing military aid, including defensive weapons, for its […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Feb 3, 2015

Report Calls on US to Provide Lethal Defensive Military Aid to Ukraine

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Goal Is to Make Further Aggression ‘Too Costly’ for Russia The United States must provide Ukraine with defensive weapons — and $3 billion in military aid over three years — to oppose Russia’s invasion of the country and deter further Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, according to a new report. The report, Preserving Ukraine’s Independence, […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2015

South Sudan Deal Buys Time for Warring Sides, Diplomats, Says Pham

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council analyst says track record of past ceasefires does not inspire confidence A new deal between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel commander Riek Machar to end the fighting that has devastated the world’s newest nation over the past year is likely just a delaying tactic that allows the two warring sides to […]

East Africa

MENASource

Feb 2, 2015

The Pound’s Inevitable Devaluation Arrives

By Alfred Jasins

Over the past two weeks central bankers in Egypt have been implementing a managed devaluation of the local currency. The Egyptian pound has dropped from 7.14 Egyptian pounds against the dollar on January 18 to roughly 7.60 Egyptian pounds where it stands today. Many analysts expect the local currency to fall even further.  

Economy & Business North Africa

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2015

Three Elephants in the Room: The Unfinished Agenda for the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative

By David Goldwyn

The Caribbean Energy Security Summit (CESS) on January 26 marked the second milestone in US-Caribbean relations in less than a year. The first was the launch by the White House of the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative (CESI), which comprised an unprecedented US commitment to Caribbean energy security, on June 19, 2014, during Vice President Biden’s […]

Energy & Environment
Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, Jan. 30, 2015

NATOSource

Feb 2, 2015

NATO Chief: European Defense Spending Continued to Decline in 2014

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

[A]s you can see from our Annual Report, there has been a steady decline in European defense spending since 1990. And the decline continued last year.

NATO Russia

MENASource

Feb 2, 2015

Top News; Egypt Releases Al Jazeera Journalist; 183 Pro-Morsi Defendants Sentenced to Death

By EgyptSource

Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste was released from a Cairo jail on Sunday and was deported from Egypt after 400 days in prison. The Interior Ministry said on its Facebook page that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi released Greste under a decree issued in November authorizing him to approve the deportation of foreign prisoners.

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