Category: Blogs

Shaheen: ‘I am concerned that Kremlin’s actions are creating an environment of fear’ inside Russia

By Jeanne Shaheen, Office of Senator Shaheen

From Jeanne Shaheen, Office of Senator Shaheen:  The United States and Russia have a long history of dramatic ups and downs and seeming contradictions.

Top News: Egypt Constitution Finalized as Opposition Cries Foul

By Egypt Source

An Islamist-led assembly finalized a new constitution early on Friday aimed at transforming Egypt and paving the way for an end to a crisis that erupted when President Mohamed Morsi gave himself sweeping new powers last week.  

Russia demands clear military-technical details on NATO missile defense

By RT

Russia’s envoy warns against NATO missiles in Turkey

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Planned deployment of Patriot air defense systems at the Turkish-Syrian border will mean NATO’s involvement in the Syrian conflict, Russia’s envoy said on Friday.

Clinton: A transatlantic trade deal will generate ‘hundreds of billions of dollars for our economies’

By Hillary Rodham Clinton, Department of State

From Hillary Rodham Clinton, Department of State:  Perhaps the most important question in the years ahead will be whether we invest as much energy into our economic relationship as we have put into our security relationship.

Continued Contradictions in Egypt’s Draft Constitution: A Preliminary Reading

By Nancy Messieh

Not only did the Constituent Assembly rush suddenly into a voting session on Thursday, it also appears to be rushing through the voting process itself, aiming to place the draft constitution on President Mohamed Morsi’s desk by nightfall. The vote is taking place so quickly, that at least on one occasion, Hossam al-Gheriani, Constituent Assembly […]

NATO and Russia resume ambassador-level meetings after gap of nearly a year

By Adrian Croft, Reuters

From Adrian Croft, Reuters:  Envoys from the 28 alliance members held their first meeting with Alexander Grushko, a former deputy foreign minister who President Vladimir Putin appointed last month as Russia’s ambassador to NATO.

Tahrir Protesters Find Common Ground in Marginalization

By Basil El Dabh

President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood may have inadvertently accomplished for their opposition what they could not do for themselves in the past year. On Tuesday, members of virtually every revolutionary non-Islamist group filled Tahrir Square participating in a massive demonstration against the president’s constitutional declaration. Today, hundreds continue a sit-in in Tahrir, with […]

Bureaucrats in Space

By Hanna Camp

Recent advancements in space technology and commercial space industry promise to spur a dramatic surge in space tourism and research in the coming decades. While space enthusiasts might celebrate the news by calculating whether their retirement funds can be made over as space-jump funds, the bureaucratically-inclined have a good reason to worry: the current system […]

Turkey, Syria and the NATO umbrella: A reading from Brussels

By Marc Pierini, Hurriyet Daily News

From Marc Pierini, Hurriyet Daily News:  [W]hat is the meaning of the Patriot deployment?