Category: Blogs

Enrichment Freeze at Fordow Key to Progress in Iran Nuclear Talks

By Barbara Slavin

As diplomats from Iran and the world’s big powers assemble in Istanbul on the inauspicious day of Friday 13, the key to managing the Iranian nuclear crisis lies deep in a mountain near the Shiite theological center of Qom.

Top News: Egypt Expected to Sign IMF Deal by May 15

By Mara Revkin

Egypt’s Finance Minister said on April 12 that the Egyptian government expects to sign a $3.2 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund by May 15, before the presidential election.

State Department: Missile threat to Europe ‘is increasing both quantitatively and qualitatively’

By Frank A. Rose, the Department of State

From Frank A. Rose, the Department of State:  Missile defense plays an important role in the broader U.S. international security strategy, supporting both deterrence and diplomacy.

Erdogan: Turkey may invoke NATO’s Article 5 over Syrian border fire

By Today's Zaman

Pentagon expanding international partnerships to address “global cyber arms race”

By Cheryl Pellerin, Armed Forces Press Service

Game-Changing Court Decision Escalates Egypt’s Constitutional Crisis

By Tarek Radwan

On April 10, the Administrative Court in Cairo ruled to stop the implementation of parliamentary speaker Saad al-Katatny’s formation of the constituent assembly in response to a number of lawsuits challenging the legitimacy and constitutionality of the highly controversial body.  The lawsuit is just the latest blow the legitimacy of the assembly, which has seen […]

Fighting for a Maximum Wage: The Wrong Battle

By Hoda Youssef

With presidential elections in Egypt looming, candidates are competing to attract voters’ support in what is expected to be the most challenging and competitive race in the country’s electoral history.  One of the most appealing campaign pledges announced by many candidates is their intention to put a ceiling on public and government sector wages, in […]

Will We Need NATO After Afghanistan?

By Stanley Sloan

Despite the Obama administration’s re-focusing US security commitments on Asia, we will need NATO after Afghanistan. Some historical perspective might help.  When the Clinton Administration took office, it, too, sought to reorient American foreign policy toward Asia.  It was the economy, stupid, and the future of American economic interests was to be found on the […]

War and Peace in the Middle East

By Julian Lindley-French

Tolstoy writes in War and Peace; “What is the cause of historical events? Power. What is power? Power is the sum total of wills transferred to one person. On what condition are the wills of the masses transferred to one person? On condition that the person express the will of the whole people. That is, […]