Middle East

Cairo Court to Consider Facebook, Twitter Ban in Egypt

A Cairo administrative court announced on Thursday that it will hear a lawsuit calling for a ban in Egypt on Facebook and Twitter. The first session in the trial will take place on November 18. The lawsuit, filed by lawyer Mohamed Hamed Salem, calls for the social networking sites to be blocked until they obtain […]

Do drone strikes in Yemen undermine US security objectives?

By Danya Greenfield and Stefanie A. Hausheer

Despite President Obama’s assertion that the United States’ counterterrorism strategy targeting militants in Yemen and Somalia provide a “successful” model to be emulated in its fight against ISIS, a new Atlantic Council issue brief assesess the use of drones and the US strategy in Yemen, and argues this approach is shortsighted and threatens US national […]

Kobani, Kurds, Turks, and Airstrikes: A Fine Kettle Of Fish

By Frederic C. Hof

Although the expression “a fine kettle of fish” has been around for hundreds of years to characterize a confused, awkward, messy, and even intractable situation, it was revived in the first half of the 20th century by comedians Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

Egypt between Two Billboards

By Mina Fayek

As President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi headed to New York at the end of September to attend the United Nations 69th General Assembly, an advertising campaign was simultaneously launched in the city. Large billboards popped up across New York promoting ‘The New Egypt,’ featuring the tagline, ‘Peace, Prosperity and Growth.’ The source of funding for the […]

US Official Accuses Turkey of ‘Inventing Reason Not to Act’ Against Daesh

By Mark Landler, Anne Barnard, and Eric Schmitt, New York Times

While Turkish troops watched the fighting in Kobani through a chicken-wire fence, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that the town was about to fall and Kurdish fighters warned of an impending blood bath if they were not reinforced

Egypt’s Boycott of the Turks

Egyptian authorities have never really cared for their Turkish counterparts, particularly given the close relationship between them and the Muslim Brotherhood under ousted-president Mohamed Morsi. Tensions spiked after the military takeover of Egypt’s political arena on July 3, 2013.