Category: Blogs

Top News: Egypt Islamist Parties Call for SCC’s Dissolution

Six Islamist-leaning political parties on Thursday condemned recent calls by Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) to grant military and police personnel the right to vote in national elections.  GOVERNMENT & OPPOSITION Egypt presidency’s civil society bill ‘hostile to freedom’: NGOs Forty Egyptian NGOs on Tuesday issued withering criticisms of a new draft law regulating NGO […]

Nothing is Inevitable in Politics, nor in Popular Pressure

By Amr Hamzawy

In politics, it is wrong to expect that successful popular campaigns with substantial demands will achieve results immediately. I am putting this in writing, to confirm statements I have already made in Egyptian media about the Tamarod, or ‘rebellion,’ campaign. Tamarod’s main demand is a call for early presidential elections, in response to the collapse […]

Syrian Supernova?

By Harlan Ullman

Syria is dying. A further tragedy is that there is little the outside world can do to end that war.

The Digital Iron Curtain

By Andrew Ellis

While international hacking episodes linked to the governments of Iran, Syria, North Korea, and China have received widespread attention, media outlets often underreport government use of these tools against their own citizens.

NATO Rejects Direct Arctic Presence

By Gerard O'Dwyer, Defense News

From Gerard O’Dwyer, Defense News:  Norway’s ambition of persuading NATO to establish a strong direct military presence in the Arctic High North — and as a strategic counterweight to Russia’s intensifying rearming programs in the region — suffered a setback after the leader of NATO said the alliance has no plans to expand its role […]

Top News: Syria Opposition Says No Peace Talks Until Hezbollah, Iran Halt “Invasion”

Syria’s main opposition group said Thursday it will not take part in proposed US-Russia peace talks while “the militias of Iran and Hezbollah continue their invasion of Syria," the opposition’s acting chief George Sabra told reporters in Istanbul.

Top News: Judges Declare Sit-in Protesting Judiciary Law

Young judges and prosecutors will go to their jobs in the morning then participate in a sit-in at the High Court building in the afternoon until the upper house of parliament ceases its attempts to amend the law, Judges’ Club President Ahmed al-Zind announced at a Tuesday press conference. 

The Pitfalls of Military Voting

The laws governing House of Representatives elections and political participation, submitted to the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) in April, have once again been met with the court’s disapproval. The court ruling puts an already delayed timeline for parliamentary elections further off track, while contradictory statements emerge from the Shura Council on how next to proceed.

NATO Strengthens Military-to-Military Cooperation with Pakistan

By NATO

From NATO:  On 28 and 29 May 2013, General Knud Bartels, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, made an official visit to Pakistan at the invitation of General [Ashfaq Parvez] Kayani, the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff.

Syria: Is a No-Fly Zone on the Table?

By Frederic C. Hof

As US officials have repeatedly acknowledged, Bashar al-Assad’s military “calculation” ultimately must change to enable a negotiated political transition. One option under consideration is a no-fly zone over parts of Syria. As with any exercise weighing the costs and benefit of a specific course of action in Syria, the discussion of a no-fly zone starts […]