Category: Blogs

Syria: Hezbollah’s Military Intervention

By Frederic C. Hof

The loss of the strategic town of Qusayr by Syrian rebels clearly demonstrates that the presence of Hezbollah fighters inside Syria is a life preserver of sorts for a regime badly in need of one. That Bashar al-Assad can use the help is beyond question. Yet the wisdom of this intervention is very much in […]

Top News: US, Germany, and Rights Groups Slam Egypt’s NGO Trial

US Secretary of State John Kerry voiced concern Tuesday about the sentences handed down by a Cairo court on 43 Egyptian and foreign NGO workers, denouncing it as a "politically-motivated" trial. 

Lebanon inches toward disaster

By Rajan Menon

It has been Lebanon’s unenviable fate to be the playground for the deadly games of its more powerful and rivalrous neighbors. What has made Lebanon particularly vulnerable to the fears and ambitions of adjacent states—or in the case of Iran, those aligned with them—is the effect outsiders’ machinations have had on the delicate balance among […]

NGO Verdict Revives Calls for Reevaluating US Assistance to Egypt

By Nancy Messieh

After a lengthy year-and-a-half long trial, Egypt’s court sentenced forty-three Egyptians, Americans, and other foreign nationals to up to five years in prison. The trial, infamously known in local Egyptian media as the ‘Foreign Funding Trial,’ has come to a distressing end and is yet another test for US-Egypt relations, as well as a foreboding […]

Obama to Announce Susan Rice as His New National Security Advisor

By Mark Landler, New York Times

From Mark Landler, New York Times:  In a major shakeup of President Obama’s foreign-policy inner circle, Tom Donilon, the national security adviser, is resigning and will be replaced by Susan E. Rice

Russia Has to React if Sweden and Finland Join NATO – Medvedev

By RT

From RT:  Russia cannot see NATO expansion towards its borders as positive, as under certain circumstances the possibility of military confrontation remains, the Russian PM has said at the Euro-Arctic Council’s forum.

NATO Rules Out Colombia Membership

By AFP

From AFP:  Colombia cannot be considered for NATO membership but the alliance is exploring ways of boosting ties with the country, a NATO official said Tuesday after an uproar in Latin America over the possibility.

Colombia Minister Rules Out NATO Membership Despite President’s Talk of Closer Ties

By AP

From AP:  Colombia’s defense minister says his country has no interest in joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The comments by Juan Carlos Pinzon appear to back away from a statement by President Juan Manuel Santos that had alarmed some other South American leaders.

US Might Support Colombia NATO Bid: State Department Official

By AFP

From AFP:  The United States might support a bid by Colombia for NATO membership just as it has backed the close Latin American ally in other international fora, a senior State Department official said Monday.

Bolivia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua Condemn Colombia’s Interest in Joining NATO

By MercoPress