Politics & Diplomacy

EU Foreign Ministers Speak Out on Cutting Arms Sales to Egypt

By Claire Rosemberg, AFP

The European Union agreed Wednesday to restrict exports of security equipment and arms to Egypt in response to the mounting violence but opted to maintain economic assistance.

EU Suspends Military Exports to Egypt

The EU condemns in the clearest possible terms all acts of violence.

No No-Fly Zone over Syria

By Paul Rasmussen

Last week’s meeting between General Dempsey and King Abdullah II of Jordan was noteworthy in that the subject of military intervention in Syria was not discussed.  After two years of endless strategic and political debate it seems that recent events have put an end to the suggestion that the United States should intervene in Syria.  […]

Europe: Strategic Drifter

By Jakub Grygiel, National Interest

The European Union is a strategic drifter, unclear about its world role, unable to articulate a purpose and divided in its perception of external threats.

Turkey’s Pivot Away from Democracy

By Kathryn Alexeeff

For the second time in two months, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is clashing with secularists and opposition forces. The latest clash brings to the fore the question of whether Turkey will remain democratic, or if it is descending into authoritarianism. While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) rightly emphasizes that it […]

Gibraltar–Rock of Rages

By Julian Lindley French

Article X of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht is pretty unequivocal. “The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and he gives up the […]

Hassan Rouhani: The Immoderate Moderate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a new president: Hassan Rouhani. There has been a lot of talk about Rouhani’s supposed political moderation and pragmatism, just as in 1982, there was talk that Yuri Andropov’s supposed fondness for jazz indicated a liking for the West in general, and the possibility that there would be a […]

The EU’s Future: I Would Not Start from Here

By Julian Lindley-French

There is a hoary old Irish joke that gets quoted far too often at conferences I attend. An American tourist is lost in the Irish countryside (the lost Yank is always in Ireland) and asks a farmer directions to Dublin. “Well,” says the farmer. “I would not start from here.” Much the same can be […]

Obama’s Bad Bet on the Egyptian Military

By Rajan Menon

Egypt’s political chasm continues to widen following the military’s ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi, who, despite his many flaws and blunders, was the only democratically elected president in the country’s history.