Middle East

Syria: The Ground Truth and Geneva

By Frederic C. Hof

At a recent conference, Dr. Steve Heydemann called attention to an important statement by Secretary of State John Kerry that clearly outlines how he sees the relationship between the combat situation on the ground in Syria and the likelihood that a Geneva 2 conference would implement the political transition provisions of the Geneva 1 Final […]

US and European Allies Building Libyan Army Bilaterally, Instead of Through NATO

By Frederic Wehrey , Foreign Affairs

Last month, discussing the Obama administration’s plans for a more modest Middle East policy, National Security Adviser Susan Rice noted that Washington “can’t just be consumed 24/7 by one region, important as it is.”

Michele Dunne on Egypt’s Transitional Roadmap

By MENASource

Michele Dunne, director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, wrote an article that asks the United States government to reassess its priorities with regard to Egypt. US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visit hailed the Egyptian military-backed roadmap as a means to achieve a more stable democratic path, but in his […]

Egypt’s Transition Roadmap: Main Event or Sideshow?

By Michele Dunne

Secretary of State John Kerry called on the military-backed interim government to “keep faith with the roadmap and the path ahead to continue the march to democracy” during his November 3 stop in Cairo, one of several references he made to the roadmap as the key indicator of how things are going in Egypt.  Kerry […]

Oil and Power in the New Libya

By Nate Mason

Shortly after the revolution there was great optimism among Libyans that one in the rapid succession of central governments would successfully lead the country. Those hopes were never realized because the highly centralized governance held over from the Qaddafi years ignored the fundamental shift in power to the peripheral municipalities that resulted from the revolution.

The Week in Egypt – November 4, 2013

Catch up on the latest out of Egypt every week, with analysis, news updates, photos, videos, and more.

Congress Discusses the Future of US Aid to Egypt

By Mohamed Elgohari

During the House of Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Next Steps on Egypt Policy,” three US administration officials, Derek Chollet, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Ambassador Elizabeth Jones, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Easter Affairs, and Alina L. Romanowski, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for the Middle East, testified […]

The Widening Gap Between France and Germany Over Defense

By Judy Dempsey, Strategic Europe

Steadfast Jazz takes place against the background of a widening gap between France and Germany over defense and security matters.

Save the Children of Syria

By Barbara Slavin

While the United States, Russia, and the other parties interested in the civil war in Syria haggle over the ground rules for admission to a Geneva peace conference, Syrian children are succumbing to polio and other horrible diseases and losing precious years of schooling.

Iraq’s Security Needs

By Ramzy Mardini

The dangerous interplay between growing domestic tensions and unstable regional dynamics is driving the rise in violence in Iraq, with levels unseen since 2008. The resurgence of Sunni militancy in Iraq—piggybacking off the sectarian, regional proxy war unfolding in Syria—has alarmed the Shiite community, leading Shiite militias to reactivate and play a role in defending […]