Category: Blogs

Europe’s September Phoenix

By Fran Burwell and Nicholas Dungan

As European leaders return to work after their summer holidays, they will find many of the same problems they left behind: the sovereign debt crisis, a vulnerable banking system and an unreconciled division over austerity vs growth. Amid the doom and gloom, however, it is worth pausing to celebrate how far Europe has come. 

Armenia breaks diplomatic relations with Hungary over Safarov case

By Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:  Within hours of the pardon, Armenian President [Serzh] Sarkisian told an emergency meeting of that country’s National Security Council that Hungary had made a "grave mistake," and soon after he announced the interruption in diplomatic ties.

US ‘extremely troubled’ Azerbaijan pardoned soldier that killed Armenian officer during 2004 NATO exercise

By the White House

From the White House:  President Obama is deeply concerned by today’s announcement that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his return from Hungary.

The Final Draft Wording of the Articles on Defense and National Security in the New Constitution

By Tarek Radwan

The rapporteur for the Defense and National Security Committee, a subcommittee of the Committee on the System of Government in the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Mohammed Mohieddin, said that “[the Committee] completed the final draft for the articles pertaining to defense and national security. The Committee on the System of Government approved the final draft after […]

Bahraini Activist Writes an Open Letter to President Mohamed Morsi

By Nancy Messieh

Bahraini human rights activist Maryam Abdelhadi al-Khawaja, barred from entering Egypt earlier this week, has written an open letter to Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, protesting her treatment at Cairo Airport. The letter came mere days before Morsi’s speech at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit (NAM) in Iran, during which any mention of Bahrain was notably absent.

Top News: Military Experts Slam Article on Declaration of War

By Egypt Source

The assembly’s committee on systems of governance decided on Monday evening that the president would have the power to declare war with the approval of the People’s Assembly, and in consultation with the National Defense Council. Experts contend that the article should be reworded to give the military council or the National Defense Council the […]

Afghanistan: An Allotment in a Jungle

By Julian Lindley-French

Nothing makes my blood boil more than recently retired senior government officials suddenly changing their story once retired. Earlier this year I was excoriated for suggesting that our troops were dying in Afghanistan for want of a meaningful political strategy and to avoid the political embarrassment of leaders. Yesterday, Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles, London’s former ‘man […]

How Much Is Enough? – Part II

By Harlan Ullman

Given that the United States’ latest defense strategy was crafted earlier this year accounting for a nearly $490 billion defense cut over the next 10 years, if the Pentagon were to undertake a new strategic review, how might it go about accomplishing one, assuming the huge initial resistance against such an effort could be overcome?

Estonia interested in hosting NATO Baltic air-policing rotation

By the Lithuania Tribune

SACEUR Stavridis: We will win in Afghanistan

By James Stavridis, the Guardian

From James Stavridis, the Guardian:  Much has been written in the past week regarding Nato’s ongoing efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.