Category: Blogs

Moscow Desires Russian Missile Shield over the Baltic States, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and Norway

By Baltic News Service

From Baltic News Service:  Russia still wants to avoid elements of NATO’s anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence in close vicinity and proposes to the Alliance to divide Europe into responsibility areas

Top News: Egypt govt agrees on draft law for police; Shura passes amended political participation bill

By Egypt Source

The Egyptian government, headed by Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, agreed in principle on Wednesday on a draft law, proposed by the interior ministry, whose aim is to confront crimes which threaten national security, police officers as well as public and private property. GOVERNMENT & OPPOSITION Egypt govt agrees on draft law for police; Shura passes […]

Top News: Benghazi Tragedy Sidelines Congress Presidency Vote

The much anticipated vote for a new president of the General National Congress (GNC) to replace Mohamed Magariaf has been postponed to June 16 because of the Benghazi shootings last Saturday, which claimed thirty-one lives and injured dozens more.

Who Decides What’s Secret?

By James Joyner

Glenn Greenwald, the civil-liberties columnist who broke the story about the National Security Agency’s massive collection of metadata on U.S. phone and Internet usage patterns, contends that, despite its being classified Top Secret, “There’s not a single revelation that we’ve provided to the world that even remotely jeopardizes national security.”

Colombia Good Fit for NATO

By Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami Herald

From Carlos Alberto Montaner, Miami Herald:  President Juan Manuel Santos proposes to bring Colombia into NATO, even if it is through the back door. I think it’s a responsible initiative.

Working Group on Egypt Writes to President Obama on the NGO Trial

Following the Cairo Criminal Court’s conviction of forty-three non-governmental organization (NGO) workers, among them sixteen Americans, concerns for civil society groups in Egypt have grown, particularly amidst ongoing discussion of a repressive NGO law drafted by Egypt’s presidency.  Download the PDF

Will the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty Be Effective?

By Alex Ward and Morgan Timme

Earlier this month, states that participated in the UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty last March were allowed to sign the document. The ATT—designed to curb the sale of small arms and ammunition to terrorists, criminal gangs, and organizations committing human rights violations or genocide—passed a UN General Assembly vote with 154 in favor, […]

Morsi Government Seeks to Institutionalize Authoritarian Relapse with NGO Law

By Dina Guirguis

In what has been the most serious affront to Egyptian civil society and prospects for democracy since the revolution and even well before then, last week brought the conviction of forty-three NGO workers and the closure of multiple NGO offices by court verdict. While a diplomatically expedient “resolution” may be pursued with the Egyptian government, […]

Strengthening NATO-EU Interaction

By NATO

From NATO:  NATO International Military Staff (IMS) and European Union Military Staff (EUMS) Directors convened today at NATO Headquarters for the first high-level military conference of 2013.

Inside the NSA’s Ultra-Secret Hacking Group

By Matthew M. Aid, Foreign Policy