Category: Blogs

High Hopes for a More Robust American Role in Africa

By Atlantic Council

If one country has benefited from American and European neglected of Africa over the past decade or so, it has been China. In the absence of significant American and European investment on the African continent, particularly below the Sahara, China’s trade with the area increased, between 2001 and 2011, from $20 billion to $120 billion.

Top News: Anonymous Yemeni Security Official Says the Government Will Treat Houthis Like Al-Qaeda

By MENASource

A security official said, on the condition of anonymity, “the Houthis are like al-Qaeda in their use of arms and use of violence against… and will thus be dealt with as a terrorist group if they continue in their refusal to hand over heavy weapons.”

Top News: NASL Calls for More Demonstrations Friday

By EgyptSource

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL) thanked the Egyptian people on Thursday for boycotting the presidential elections. NASL also called for its followers to continued demonstrations in the coming weeks demanding that the military return to its barracks.

Congressional Leaders Urge NATO to Purchase French Warships Intended for Russia

By Eliot L. Engel, Michael Turner, and William R. Keating

Text of letter to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen from US lawmakers.

Algeria’s Mirage of Stability

By Mohsin Khan and Karim Mezran

Despite the sporadic protests that shook Algiers during the Arab Spring season of 2011, the demonstrations calling for change brought forth nowhere near the same political transformation that rocked countries like Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia.

Storify: #ACGhani with Afghanistan Presidential Candidate Dr. Ashraf Ghani

The stakes could not be higher. Afghanistan faces an historic presidential election on June 14 with a runoff between frontrunners Dr. Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. 

Egypt, the Election, and Sectarian Analysis

By Jayson Casper

One day before the beginning of presidential elections, the Egyptian Center for Media Studies and Public Opinion (ECMSPO) published the results of a counterintuitive poll. Based on personal interviews with 10,524 citizens throughout Egypt’s governorates, they predicted a turnout of only 10 percent.

EconSource: Fitch–Public finances remain key challenge after Egypt vote

By EconSource

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

Kremlin Awards Medals for Courage (and Pension Bonuses) to Russian Journalists Who Cover Ukraine ‘Objectively’

By Irena Chalupa

An essential asset in the Kremlin’s not-quite-covert sponsorship of the secessionist warfare in southeast Ukraine has been its ability to use Russia’s mass media to shape the story for populations at home in Russia and in much of the former Soviet Union. President Vladimir Putin signaled the importance of this propaganda war this week in […]