Middle East

Lebanon Stuck Between Leaky Borders and Politics

By Maya Gebeily

A twenty year-old girl and a ten-year old boy were killed by Syrian government airstrikes last week. It would sound like any other day in Syria, except these strikes took place on the Lebanese side of the border, killing two Lebanese civilians and wounding several others.

Libya’s Parallel Tracks Could Avert a Train Wreck

By Karim Mezran and Lara Talverdian

For months now, Libya has found itself in a deteriorating security situation that hampers political progress. Since the revolution in 2011, Libyan authorities and their international partners regarded the country’s security challenges as the source of the problem rather than a symptom of deeply rooted political woes. 

President Obama’s Foreign Policy is Based on Fantasy

By Editorial Board of the Washington Post

For five years, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality.

Ukraine Crisis Tests Obama’s Foreign Policy Focus on Diplomacy Over Military Force

By Scott Wilson, Washington Post

Ukraine has emerged as a test of Obama’s argument that, far from weakening American power, he has enhanced it through smarter diplomacy, stronger alliances and a realism untainted by the ideology that guided his predecessor.

Not the Saudi Arabia You Hear About

By MENASource

More than 100,000 young Saudis are currently studying in the United States, and this population is seen by many as a positive force that will inevitably catalyze change in conservative Saudi society. 

Sisi’s Transition: Pivoting Away from 1954?

By Maged Atiya

The popularity of Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rests more on hope that he will lead Egypt away from the brink and less on knowledge of the man himself. While many journalists and scholars have been quick to caricature him, few have tried to understand the historical forces likely to shape his role. If Sisi […]

Who is in Egypt’s New Cabinet?

Prime Minister designate Ibrahim Mehleb announced on Thursday that he is finalizing the list of names chosen for Egypt’s new cabinet, to be presented to interim President Adly Mansour on Saturday. According to initial reports, at least seventeen ministers will remain in their positions, nine new ministers will join the cabinet, and five portfolios have […]

Syria: Time To Review the Bidding

By Frederic C. Hof

Well first of all, David, this is not a genocide. It’s a horrific civil war that has spilled over and infused the neighboring states. It’s one that we have worked very hard to end, through support to the opposition, through humanitarian assistance, through active and aggressive diplomacy. And David, we have every interest in trying […]