Middle East

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 […]

Too Much Crisis, Too Little Defense

By Jon Kyl and Joe Lieberman, POLITICO

The most obvious impact of the defense cuts on the economy is the loss of jobs in the private and public defense sector, but there are even greater negative economic effects that are less visible.

Ambassador Fred Hof’s Testimony on Syria before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on October 31, 2013

By MENASource

Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Corker, Members of the Committee: I am deeply honored by your invitation to testify today on the situation in Syria.  It is a situation for which the word “appalling” barely suffices.  The crisis in Syria has, for more than 30 months, been destroying a country of 23 million people. 

Syria: Ambassador Fred Hof to Testify Thursday Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee

By MENASource

On Thursday, October 31 Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Ambassador Frederic C. Hof will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate Committee will convene two panels to discuss the crisis in Syria.

Hailing Hellfires

By Fatima Abo Alasrar

Apart from the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference that has been generating good news in the press, the country is on a rapidly deteriorating course toward uncertainty.

SACEUR: European Allies Vital to Global Security

By Claudette Roulo, American Forces Press Service

It makes fiscal and strategic sense for the United States to continue to base troops in Europe, the officer who serves as NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe and commander of U.S. European Command said today.

A Place for Women in Egypt’s Transition

Women, who stood side-by-side with men at the frontlines of Egypt’s uprising facing off with Central Security Forces, have found themselves marginalized over the past two years. Issues relating to women’s rights have been sidelined as discussions over legislation under successive regimes instead focus on measures that would stifle civil society in Egypt, and crack […]

Libya: Nothing to Celebrate

By Mustafa Fetouri

Had it not been for the recent brief kidnapping of Libya’s prime minister Mr. Ali Zidan, Libya would not likely come up in the international news arena. The country has sadly dropped out of the spotlight, particularly in the West. Invited to speak to Amnesty International in Belgium, I asked my audience about the most […]

Ebram Louis and the Contested Nature of Coptic Disappearances

By Jayson Casper

Maryam Milad disappeared in 2012. Last seen in the church of St. Anthony in Shubra, her father believes his now eighteen year old daughter has been kidnapped and perhaps married off to a Salafi Muslim somewhere. Police, he says, have been uncooperative.

Top News: Morsi Refuses to Recognize Egypt Court Due to Try Him; Judges Recuse Themselves

Egypt’s deposed president Mohamed Morsi has refused to recognize a court due to try him next week, declining to delegate lawyers to defend him over murder allegations. Judges presiding in an ongoing trial of Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohamed Badie and co-defendants on charges of incitement of murder have also recused themselves from the case.