Category: Blogs

Atlantic Update 1/31/11

By Jason Harmala

With Egypt dominating most of the world’s headlines, European headlines include developments in Belarus, news of a 2.4% inflation increase in the Eurozone, and Hungary’s new willingness to discuss its controversial media law.

Turkey’s Dynamic Resurgence in the New Global Era

By Zeynep Dereli and Jean-Pierre Lehmann

In a recent article in Newsweek, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan branded the EU “geriatric” and “comatose.” This reflects not only Ankara’s frustrations with the EU accession process, but also the global transformations of the early 21st century.

Egypt Needs Reform, Not Revolution

By George Grant and Alexandros Petersen

The mounting pro-democracy protests in Egypt against the 30-year tyranny of Hosni Mubarak are an encouraging development in the wake of Tunisia’s ousting of its own long-time autocrat, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, earlier this month. It is tempting, indeed altogether proper, to hope for “people power” changes of governance across the autocratic Arab world. […]

Obama discusses regional upheaval with Erdogan

By Zaman

From Zaman: US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have agreed that peoples’ demands for “legitimate and natural democratic rights” should be recognized by their leaders

Crackdown in Belarus needs united transatlantic response

By John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, the Washington Post

From John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, the Washington Post:  Since the patently unfair and undemocratic presidential election on Dec. 19, Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian ruler of Belarus, has reminded his countrymen and the world that the post-Cold War vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace remains sadly unfulfilled.

Cracks in the Russian Regime

By Lucian Kim, the International Herald Tribune

Britain, France and Germany issue joint statement on Egypt

By Judy Dempsey, the New York Times

From Judy Dempsey, the New York Times:  Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany — fell short of calling for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt

Germany Plans Start of Troop Withdrawal

By Judy Dempsey, the New York Times

From Judy Dempsey, the New York Times:   With the public increasingly opposed to the war in Afghanistan, the German Parliament voted on Friday to begin withdrawing the 4,900 soldiers serving there by the end of this year and to complete the withdrawal by 2014, the first time Germany has set a time frame for bringing […]

Supporting Democratic Aspirations of All People

By James Joyner

The unfolding revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have captured the world’s attention and imagination. And raised anew some old questions about what, if anything, the West and the United States in particular should do. In his January 25 State of the Union address, President Obama pointed to the "desire to be free in Tunisia, where the […]

Egypt goes dark: First time an entire country unplugged from Internet

By Jordan Robertson, the AP

From Jordan Robertson, the AP:  Egypt has apparently done what many technologists thought was unthinkable for any country with a major Internet economy: It unplugged itself entirely from the Internet to try and silence dissent.