Middle East

The Road to Presidential Elections

By EgyptSource

With Egypt’s second presidential elections in two years expected to take place within as many months, the electoral law, possible candidates, and the final results, have been mired in controversy. Keeping tabs on the process, EgyptSource will be providing periodic updates on the latest news coming out of the Egyptian elections process. 

Crime and Impunity in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Save for the efforts of humanitarian agencies operating inside Syria and along its borders, the international community has done little but bear witness to the plight of those caught in the maelstrom. Syrians feel abandoned and hopeless.

This is Egypt: New Voices, Untold Stories [Video]

By Daniel Stoker

Since January 25 2011, the Egyptian political scene has been dominated by a war of narratives each defining Egypt on its own terms and each claiming to represent the people. Chants of “bread, freedom, and social justice,” heard during the early days of revolutionary fervor were later replaced by “the army and the people are […]

Egypt’s Elite and an End to a Call for Democracy

By Amr Hamzawy

My mind is still bewildered as I try to explain why Egypt’s elite have ceased calling for democracy and adherence to its procedures.  I try to understand how they accept (sometimes silently) violations of human rights and freedoms and a renewal of the authoritarian, subjugating nature of the government’s relationship to society and citizens. Here, […]

Will President Obama Prioritize Nuclear Cooperation with Saudi Arabia?

By Sigurd Neubauer

Next week, President Barack Obama is set to pay King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia a high-profile visit as he seeks to restore fraught relations over Syria and Iran policy. Although the two leaders are expected to hold wide-ranging consultations over regional developments, it remains unclear whether the US president has set aside time on his […]

Missing Flight 370 Has Israel on High Alert

Atlantic Council Ambassador-in-Residence Michael Oren appeared on Piers Morgan Live to talk about how the search for missing flight 370 has put Israel on high alert. One theory on the disappearance is that the plane was hijacked to be used in a 9/11-style attack. As Oren points out to guest host Bill Wier, Israel’s precarious […]

Closing Syria’s Embassy

By Frederic C. Hof

Special Envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein yesterday announced that the United States had notified the Syrian government “that it must immediately suspend operations of its Embassy in Washington, DC and its honorary consulates in Troy, Michigan and Houston, Texas.”

Saudi Arabia brings the fight back home

By Kristin Diwan

In the first three years of the Arab Awakening, Saudi Arabia has undertaken an uncharacteristically assertive foreign policy. As a status quo power in a rapidly changing region, Saudi Arabia sought to counter potential Iranian gains and to maintain control over its regional sphere of influence.