Category: Blogs

EconSource: Tunisia Debates Budget Bill

By EconSource

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

Questions to my Fellow Egyptians and Remarks to Human Rights Defenders

By Amr Hamzawy

Did you take part in June 30, 2013 as a form of peaceful pressure to achieve early presidential elections within a democratic process? Or to empower the military establishment and the security apparatus to take power and deviate from the democratic transition?

The Harper Plan for Unilateral Canadian Disarmament

By Michael Byers, National Post

Despite his tough talk about supporting the troops, Stephen Harper has reduced defence spending to just 1% of GDP — the lowest level in Canadian history.

Another Assault on Civil Society in Egypt

By Elly Page

Amidst the raft of new legislation proposed and passed in the first weeks of Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s Presidency, a new and restrictive draft law to govern non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is once again on the table. The draft law, submitted by the Ministry of Social Solidarity in late June 2014, introduces a number of legal constraints […]

The Sixth Round of TTIP Negotiations and Approval of Juncker as New Commission President

Top News 6th Round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) starts Yesterday, the sixth round of TTIP negotiations got underway in Brussels. All issue area working groups will meet to discuss the issues of trade in goods and services, regulatory issues, government procurement, environmental protection and labor rights, energy and raw materials, and small- […]

Lithuanian President Approves Increased Defense Spending

By New Europe

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite signed the amendments of state and municipalities budgets on increased defense spending for the year 2014 in Vilnius on Monday.

Top News: UN Security Council Authorizes Cross-Border Aid Access in Syria

By MENASource

Despite strong objections by the Syrian government, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Monday to authorize cross-border convoys of emergency aid for millions of deprived Syrian civilians in rebel-held areas. The aid will be delivered through different routes coming from Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq, without the prior approval of the Syrian government.

Syria: Lesser of Two Evils?

By Frederic C. Hof

Three distinguished American ex-diplomats—Ryan Crocker, William Luers, and Thomas Pickering—wrote on July 12 in The Washington Post, “In Syria, the choice for Bashar al-Assad’s government is either to turn its military power against the Islamic State or to continue to kill fellow Syrians…

EconSource: Egypt’s New Subsidy System Tackles Bread Consumption

By EconSource

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