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MENASource

May 16, 2014

Top News: Three Lawyers Defending AJE Journalists Quit Case in Protest

By EgyptSource

Three lawyers representing Al Jazeera English journalists currently on trial for terrorism-related charges suddenly stepped down on Thursday, accusing the Qatar-based satellite network of twisting the facts of the case to its own ends without regard for the defendants.

MENASource

May 16, 2014

The Kurdish Dilemma: Counterterrorism and Realpolitik in Iraq

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Increased calls from the Iraqi army to the United States to provide promised F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters are aimed at destroying the Iraqi offshoot of al-Qaeda in Sunni heartland of Iraq. However, the Iraqi army’s fight against Sunni insurgents rather than increased border protection raises worries among Kurds that the Iraqi army could […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

Ukraine’s May 25 Vote May Be Its Freest Yet, Despite Crisis, Election Official Says

By Irena Chalupa

Ukraine’s May 25 election, an event critical to strengthening the legitimacy of Ukraine’s government as it confronts attacks by Russia, may in some ways be the freest vote for a Ukrainian president since the country became independent 22 year ago, says Andriy Mahera, the deputy chairman of the country’s election commission. That’s because, for the […]

Russia Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen with the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad countries

NATOSource

May 15, 2014

Rasmussen: NATO Members Need to Increase Their Defense Budgets

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

Twenty-five years ago, this part of Europe was the front-line in the fight for freedom. Barbed wire fences were cut. Walls came down. And freedom prevailed over force.

NATO Russia
REUTERS/Alexander Khudotioply

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

In Ukraine’s East, the Cautious Middle Path of Oligarch-in-Chief Rinat Akhmetov

By Irena Chalupa and James Rupert

Business Magnate Speaks Out for Ukraine’s Unity, but Does Not Condemn Separatism What is Rinat Akhmetov’s vision for the future of his home region, the Donbas (Donetsk Basin) of southeastern Ukraine? As Ukraine’s wealthiest business magnate (worth $12 billion according to Forbes) and owner of mining, steel, and energy companies that form a pillar of […]

Russia Ukraine

Trade in Action

May 15, 2014

TTIP Action: May 15

By Garrett Workman

TTIP Action aggregates the latest news and best analysis from across the United States and European Union on the ongoing negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Economy & Business Trade and tariffs

MENASource

May 15, 2014

Top News: Bouteflika Announces Presidential Terms Limits, Other Constitutional Reforms

By MENASource

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika proposed a two-term presidential limit and delegating more authority to the prime minister’s post as part of constitutional amendments after his reelection, a government source said on Thursday. Forty-seven proposed amendments were distributed to political parties on Thursday.

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

Beyond 3D Printing: Programming the Material World

By Thomas A. Campbell

New technologies are converging in a cresting tsunami. Robotics, autonomous vehicles, big data, the “internet of everything,” nanotechnology and other technology sectors are being mashed up in ways incredible to those who studied engineering even as recently as the 1990s. In particular, 3D printing (additive manufacturing)1 revolutionizes the future with its potential to make almost […]

MENASource

May 15, 2014

Top News: Egyptians Abroad Head to the Polls as Elections Begin

By EgyptSource

Egyptians living abroad began Thursday to cast their ballots in a presidential poll that is expected to bring former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to power.

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

Ukraine News Roundup | May 15

By Irena Chalupa

Nationalism Is Exactly What Ukraine Needs from The New Republic The Unraveling of Ukraine from Politico Inside East Ukraine’s Make-Believe Republics from The Daily Beast Anti-Semitism Is on the Rise in Russia—and the Kremlin’s TV Network Is in on It from The New Republic No, Putin didn’t plot to invade Ukraine. But now he might have […]

Ukraine