Category: Blogs

Acknowledging the Corn in Libya’s Wild West

Known for its crime, smuggling, and a rise in Islamic militant activity, Libya’s southwestern border region of Fezzan evokes images of a dry, lawless, and uncontrollable desert with a tribal flare.

US Ambassador Discusses Ukraine Crisis, OSCE Role

By Irena Chalupa

Russian-backed militants in Ukraine have detained (and ultimately released) three varied teams monitoring the crisis there under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Security threats to the monitors, including those detentions, are hampering the work of the OSCE in its role as the main international body observing and mediating in […]

Top News: Jihadists Seize Key Town on Iraq Border

By MENASource

The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)—also known as simply Islamic State (IS)—took control of the key Iraqi border town of Albu Kamal on Tuesday after a fierce three-day battle with rival fighters. A spokesman for rebels fighting IS as well as President Bashar Assad’s regime said the jihadists took over the town […]

DIRECT TRANSLATION: Dispatch from Donetsk – How a Cease-Fire Failed

By Irena Chalupa

As Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced an end to the cease-fire by government forces fighting Russian-backed militants in the Donbas region of the southeast, new accounts emerged to show how futile was the ten-day truce. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry reported that the country’s armed forces lost 27 soldiers killed and 69 wounded. And from Donetsk, the […]

Gulf States Reactions to the New War in Iraq

By Nouf Al Sadiq

Since the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) took over (and now rebranded) territory in Iraq, Gulf States have been somewhat less alarmed by this new Sunni uprising than they have about other more political factors in the conflict.

EconSource: Egypt prepares for EGP44 billion fuel subsidy cuts in new fiscal year

By EconSource

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

YemenSource | Islamists Attack Yemeni Airport as Bomber Hits Army Base

By YemenSource

Suspected Islamist militants attacked an airport in the eastern Yemeni city of Seiyun on June 26, killing at least one soldier. At around the same time, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into the entrance of an army base, killing four soldiers in Hadramawt province.

NATO Updates Policy: Offers Members Article 5 Protection Against Cyber Attacks

By Steve Ranger, ZDNet

Reflecting how all international conflicts now have some digital component, NATO has updated its cyber defence policy to make it clear that a cyber attack can be treated as the equivalent of an attack with conventional weapons.