Category: Blogs

The Ongoing Campaign to Restrict Egypt’s Public Space

By Sarah El Sirgany

Today, all TV journalists working in Egypt know that tasreeh—a monthly-renewable permit issued by the interior ministry for accredited journalists to film on the streets—is back. In the wake of the January 25 Revolution, it had disappeared from the bureaucracy, but now police are once again preventing journalists from filming without permission. While some, myself […]

Mariupol: Russia’s Next Target in Ukraine War?

A Strategic City Prepares Its Defense; But if Truce Fails, Its Fate Will be Uncertain Amid the war between Russia and Ukraine, no city is watching the viability of the fragile cease-fire with more apprehension than Ukraine’s second-largest seaport, Mariupol. That is because the city, home to steel mills and, normally, a half-million residents, will […]

Obama’s ISIS Strategy: Is It Enough?

By The Atlantic Council

Following President Obama’s September 10 speech outlining the US strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS, the Atlantic Council held a conference call to assess the president’s plan. Listen to the audio below for expert analysis from Michael V. Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency, former CIA director, and Atlantic Council board director; […]

Expert Reactions to President Obama’s Speech on ISIS

President Barack Obama has faced tremendous pressure to respond to the stunning growth of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS, ISIL, or Islamic State). The group’s videos, showing the beheading of two American journalists, brought the conflict to bear directly on the United States in a way that captured domestic attention as never […]

Top News: Obama Presents ISIS Strategy; Allies Balk at Airstrikes

By MENASource

In a nationally televised address. President Barack Obama on Wednesday laid out his four-point strategy to “degrade and destroy” the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or Islamic State). (Full text here.) While ruling out the deployment of US combat troops, the president has authorized US airstrikes for the first time in Syria. The […]

EconSource: Tunisia–WB to Provide $1 Billion a Year in 2015 and 2016

By EconSource

Follow the latest in economic news and developments about the Arab transition countries. 

A Real Anti-ISIS Coalition Would Not Be Regional, But Local

By Faysal Itani

The United States government has repeatedly called for a regional coalition to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). In reality, such a coalition would be difficult to assemble and is unlikely to destroy the group. This is especially true in Syria, where ISIS can retreat and regroup at will, and where there […]

Russian Bombers Practice Cruise Missile Strikes on US During NATO Summit

By Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon

Two Russian strategic bombers conducted practice cruise missile attacks on the United States during a training mission last week that defense officials say appeared timed to the NATO summit in Wales.