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MENASource

Mar 12, 2013

Is Inflation Hurting Growth in the Arab Transition Countries?

By Mohsin Khan

Since 2011 several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have undergone significant political transitions, whether through regime change (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen) or through reforms undertaken by the existing governments (Jordan and Morocco). The central economic objective of all these countries is to create sufficient jobs for their young and […]

Middle East

NATOSource

Mar 11, 2013

U.S., British, and French soldiers training Syrian rebels in Jordan

By Julian Borger and Nick Hopkins, Guardian

From Julian Borger and Nick Hopkins, Guardian:  Western training of Syrian rebels is under way in Jordan in an effort to strengthen secular elements in the opposition as a bulwark against Islamic extremism, and to begin building security forces to maintain order in the event of Bashar al-Assad’s fall.

United Kingdom

NATOSource

Mar 11, 2013

Commander of US Army units in Europe: Readiness might suffer with sequester

By Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes

From Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes:  Some American units in Europe could soon be unprepared to deploy as U.S. Army Europe grapples with a $166 million budget shortfall caused by the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration.

New Atlanticist

Mar 11, 2013

Syria: Between Sarajevo and Baghdad

By Julian Lindley-French

Thucydides, the great-great grandfather of unforgiving International Relations, once said, “The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept”.  British Foreign Secretary Hague’s announcement last week in Parliament that Britain will send armored vehicles and bullet-proof vests to support the Syrian National Coalition came just at the moment when […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

NATOSource

Mar 11, 2013

Britain’s Parachute Regiment ending most of its jump training due to budgets cuts

By Mark Nicole, Mail on Sunday

From Mark Nicole, Mail on Sunday:  [C]ost cutting means the Paras will no longer be trained to use their chutes, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. The regiment, whose most famous sortie during the Second World War was immortalised in the film A Bridge Too Far, has been targeted by Ministry of Defence accountants keen […]

United Kingdom

NATOSource

Mar 11, 2013

Mattis urges keeping 20,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan

By Gopal Ratnam, Bloomberg

From Gopal Ratnam, Bloomberg:  The general who heads the U.S. Central Command went beyond the Pentagon’s positions today on issues including how many troops to keep in Afghanistan, giving candid testimony to Congress as he prepares to step down.

NATO Security & Defense

NATOSource

Mar 11, 2013

Britain risks NATO pledge if defense budget cut, panel says

By Kitty Donaldson, Bloomberg

From Kitty Donaldson, Bloomberg:  Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne risks breaching a NATO agreement to keep U.K. defense spending at 2 percent of gross domestic product if he cuts the Ministry of Defence budget, a panel of lawmakers said.

United Kingdom

MENASource

Mar 11, 2013

Syria’s Opposition: Ready or Not?

By Frederic C. Hof

As the Syrian uprising approaches its second year surely it is fair, with the passage of so much time, to pose a question: what good is an opposition that is not prepared to govern? 

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

Mar 11, 2013

Top News: Islamist political parties form electoral alliance

By Egypt Source

 Seven Islamist political parties have launched the Umma Alliance (Nation Alliance) announcing their collaboration to protect the "achievements of the January 25 Revolution" and stand against those who interrupt the "constitutional path that allows people to choose their ruler."  GOVERNMENT & OPPOSITION Presidential source: Morsi to call for new national dialogue President Mohamed Morsi will […]

MENASource

Mar 9, 2013

Egypt’s Police Strike and the Need for Reform

By Tarek Radwan

A long-brewing battle within Egypt’s ministry of interior has culminated into a potentially indefinite countrywide strike by police officers. The build up to this massive breakdown in the command and control structure inside the government’s primary security apparatus began as a few scattered protests across the different governorates of Egypt. Some of the police conscripts […]

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