Content

RAF Typhoon

NATOSource

Jan 22, 2014

NATO Project May Provide Allied Air Forces with ‘Plug and Play’ Precision Munitions

By Julan Hale, Defense News

Development of a NATO standard allowing aircraft from different nations to use precision-guided munitions (PGMs) from various sources and countries could reach a draft memorandum of understanding this year.

Libya NATO
REUTERS/Hosam Katan

New Atlanticist

Jan 21, 2014

Syria Talks Could Clarify an Alternative to Assad

By New Atlanticist

The “Geneva II” peace talks on Syria that begin this week under UN auspices have “absolutely zero” chance of achieving their formal goal – the creation of a transition to a new government – according to Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof. But, Hof told reporters in a briefing at the Council, the talks […]

Syria

In the News

Jan 21, 2014

Hof: US Must Stand Firm at Syria Peace Talks

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof writes in the New Republic on the Geneva II peace conference:

Syria

MENASource

Jan 21, 2014

The Simple Legislative Solution: Presidential Elections First

By Hafsa Halawa

On Sunday evening, interim President Adly Mansour formally ratified Egypt’s second constitution in the transitional period that has followed the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Debate is now rife over which elections the interim president will determine should be held first. However, the answer seems simple: presidential elections will come first. Why? Because […]

Elections North Africa
French commandos

NATOSource

Jan 21, 2014

Europe’s Sole Military Force: Giving France Respect Where it is Due

By Gregor Peter Schmitz, Spiegel

In Damascus, Tehran, Tripoli and even Washington, Paris is taken very seriously indeed.

Africa Europe & Eurasia

MENASource

Jan 21, 2014

Reflections on a Referendum

By Tarek Radwan and Lara Talverdian

As Egyptians took to the polls for their third constitutional referendum in three years, many observers have questioned the legitimacy and inclusiveness in the repressive context gripping Egypt’s politics today. The atmosphere in Egypt during this period was nothing short of passive intimidation. Soldiers, police, and in some instances intelligence personnel patrolled the polling centers. […]

North Africa Political Reform

External

Jan 21, 2014

J. Peter Pham on Resolving the Western Sahara Conflict

By J. Peter Pham

Atlantic Council Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham contributed the concluding chapter to a just-released book on Perspectives on Western Sahara: Myths, Nationalisms, and Geopolitics. Pham wrote on “A Realistic Solution to the Western Sahara Conflict” for the volume edited by Anouar Boukhars, senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for […]

North Africa

New Atlanticist

Jan 21, 2014

Assad Goes into Geneva with the Upper Hand

By Rajan Menon

It would certainly be wonderful if Wednesday’s peace conference in Geneva were to result in some kind of blueprint, however fragile, for winding down a Syrian civil war that is now approaching the three-year mark. The carnage has consumed some 130,000 lives — at least half of them civilians — turned 2.4 million Syrians into […]

Syria

In the News

Jan 21, 2014

Hof Talks Geneva II

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof joins NPR’s Morning Edition to discuss Syrian peace talks in Geneva:

Syria

In the News

Jan 20, 2014

Hof on Obama’s Syria Policy

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof joins BBC News Night to discuss the United States’ failure to stabilize the humanitarian crisis in Syria:

Syria

Experts

Events