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SouthAsiaSource

Sep 12, 2014

This Week in South Asia: September 6 – 12

By Elijah Logsdon

Commentary from the South Asia Center on the most relevant news from the region, and suggested “must-read” analyses from the week. AfghanistanAfghanistan’s election crisis deepened when representatives of Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani confirmed negotiations over forming a national unity government had collapsed. This setback came as the country’s Independent Election Commission announced that it would […]

Afghanistan India

Event Recap

Sep 12, 2014

Despite Detours and Reservations, Egypt Navigating Transition Reasonably Well

By The Atlantic Council

Despite political detours and reservations, Egypt is moving forward and navigating its transition reasonably well, said Ahmed Galal, former Minister of Finance for Egypt and managing director of the Economic Research Forum. Galal was speaking at a Hariri Center public discussion, “Tackling Egypt’s Economic Dilemma” on September 10, 2014. Atlantic Council Vice President and Hariri […]

North Africa

In the News

Sep 12, 2014

Ricciardone on Turkish Role in Syria: We Had to “Agree to Disagree”

By Francis Ricciardone

Reuters quotes VP and Rafik Hariri Center Director Francis Ricciardone on Turkish support of extremist organizations in Syria: 

Syria Turkey

MENASource

Sep 12, 2014

Egypt’s Authorities Re-engineer the Public Space

The January 25 revolution brought Egypt nothing more than trouble and turmoil, bringing Egypt to the brink of civil war and collapse–or so the thinking goes among the firmly entrenched authoritarian mindset controlling the country.

North Africa

In the News

Sep 12, 2014

Hof: We Can’t Destroy ISIS Without Destroying Assad First

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof writes for the New Republic on why President Obama’s strategy for combating the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham will be incomplete as long as it is not accompanied by more robust measures aimed at the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power:

Syria

New Atlanticist

Sep 11, 2014

Obama’s ISIS Strategy Likely to Put 5,000 US Troops Around Iraq Within 90 Days, Former CIA Chief Says

By Alex Ward and Liz Harper

Hayden: Plan Is a Step Forward, But US Should Know ‘We Are Putting Americans in Harm’s Way’ President Barack Obama’s new strategy for confronting the explosive growth of the ISIS militant movement in Iraq and Syria puts the United States “in a better place than we have been,” said General Michael Hayden, Atlantic Council board […]

Iraq Syria

Article

Sep 11, 2014

Column: Coalition Against Islamic State Must Include Iran

By Barbara Slavin

President Barack Obama is right to focus on the responsibility of the Sunni Muslim world to attack and expunge the cancer that is the militant group calling itself the Islamic State (IS). The group’s perversion of Islam in the service of its barbaric goals needs to be confronted first and foremost by those for whom […]

Iraq Saudi Arabia

Article

Sep 11, 2014

“Obama’s battle plan”

By Nicholas Burns

Obama’s foreign policy needs conviction of leadership IT’S NO secret that President Obama has had a troubled year in foreign policy. Critics from left, right, and center have lamented a global strategy lacking in toughness, strategic direction, and results. During the past few months, many of America’s closest friends have openly worried about America’s leadership […]

Iraq NATO

MENASource

Sep 11, 2014

The Ongoing Campaign to Restrict Egypt’s Public Space

By Sarah El Sirgany

Today, all TV journalists working in Egypt know that tasreeh—a monthly-renewable permit issued by the interior ministry for accredited journalists to film on the streets—is back. In the wake of the January 25 Revolution, it had disappeared from the bureaucracy, but now police are once again preventing journalists from filming without permission. While some, myself […]

North Africa

New Atlanticist

Sep 11, 2014

Obama’s ISIS Strategy: Is It Enough?

By The Atlantic Council

Following President Obama’s September 10 speech outlining the US strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS, the Atlantic Council held a conference call to assess the president’s plan. Listen to the audio below for expert analysis from Michael V. Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency, former CIA director, and Atlantic Council board director; […]

Iraq Middle East

Experts

Events