Middle East

Storify: #ACSyria with Ambassador-at-Large of the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice Stephen J. Rapp

By Justine Jablonska

War crimes and crimes against humanity – committed both by regime forces and particular extremist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham – continue in Syria.  Stephen J. Rapp, ambassador-at-large of the Office of Global Criminal Justice, spoke at the Atlantic Council on July 2 about the State Department’s ongoing efforts to promote […]

A Year in the Life of Egypt’s Political Scene

By MENASource

One year since then-General (now-President) Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Mohamed Morsi from the top seat of power in Egypt, the dynamic political scene has shifted decidedly in favor of proponents of the state and against the Islamist project. 

One Year Later: Human Rights in Egypt

By Elissa Miller

Human rights in Egypt over the past year mirrored a history of violations that have long come under criticism by the international community. Under Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians experienced torture and police violence; they were subject to a perpetual state of emergency; and basic freedoms such as freedom of speech were widely violated. Egyptians welcomed Mubarak’s […]

On the Failures of the Iraqi and Ukrainian Armies

By James Hasik

Political change must precede successful assistance from the west. The collapse of the Iraqi Army last month did seem shocking: eight hundred gunmen from the jihadist group formerly known as ISIS, armed with nothing heavier than a DiShKa on a technical, somehow routed two Iraqi divisions in just days. As I noted last weekend, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki blames this fiasco on […]

Afghanistan: A Peaceful Transfer of Power in Jeopardy

Amb. Ronald E. Neumann, former US ambassador to Afghanistan and President of the American Academy of Diplomacy and Mr. David S. Sedney, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia, spoke at a South Asia Center roundtable about the fraud allegations surrounding Afghanistan’s presidential election and the resulting political impasse in […]