Middle East

Negotiating Libya’s Constitution

As Libya embarks on drafting a new constitution and convening a national dialogue, the country faces significant security obstacles which threaten progress on these important milestones. On Wednesday, January 22, 2014, the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East launched a new issue brief, “Negotiating Libya’s Constitution,” coauthored by senior fellow Karim Mezran and nonresident […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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. […]

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 […]