Middle East

A Conversation on the Egyptian Constitution

The Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted His Excellency Amr Moussa, president of the Egyptian Constituent Assembly, via Skype from Cairo to discuss the latest developments in Egypt’s constitution writing process. Moussa began by highlighting the various challenges that Egypt faces, emphasizing that it is fighting its own war on terrorism. […]

Syria: Is it Too Late To Do Anything?

By Frederic C. Hof

Those who have long counseled against the United States taking control of the arming of Syrian opposition forces have recently updated their argument: it is now simply too late for Washington to do anything useful, even if it wanted to.

Syria & Sectarianism: Implications (Part II)

By Jonathan Paris

The Arab Spring accentuated two long-standing developments in the region: political Islam and Sunni-Shia sectarianism. While the path of political Islam is less certain following Egypt’s hot summer, the rise of sectarianism, especially in Syria, continues unabated.

NATO Agrees to Help Libya’s Security Forces

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

Allies have agreed to respond positively to the request made by the Libyan Prime Minister for NATO to provide advice on defence institution building in Libya, as part of the overall efforts of the international community.

Syria & Sectarianism: Drivers (Part I)

By Jonathan Paris

The Arab Spring accentuated two long-standing developments in the region: political Islam and Sunni-Shia sectarianism. While the path of political Islam is less certain following Egypt’s hot summer, the rise of sectarianism, especially in Syria, continues unabated.

Saudi Arabia Rejects Security Council Seat: Pique is Not a Policy

By Richard LeBaron

As the Hajj holiday wound down in Riyadh, the Saudi foreign ministry released a surprise statement Friday rejecting the Kingdom’s election to a two-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council (UNSC).

Who Represents Egypt?

By Tarek Radwan

The Muslim Brotherhood recently suffered its most decisive blow yet. Egypt’s State Litigation Authority decided on October 8 to forego any challenge to the September court ruling that bans “the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood organization and its non-governmental organization and all the activities that it participates in and any organization derived from it.” This […]

Why Russia Keeps Moving The Football On European Missile Defense: Politics

By Joan Johnson-Freese and Ralph Savelsberg, Breaking Defense

The Russian Foreign Ministry has continually insisted on legally binding guarantees that US missile defenses are not aimed at it and that would allow Russia access to sensitive aspects of the system.

US Offers Mobile Unit to Destroy Syria’s Chemical Weapons

By Anthony Deutsch and David Alexander, Reuters

The Pentagon is suggesting the world’s chemical weapons watchdog use a U.S.-made mobile destruction unit in Syria to neutralize the country’s toxic stockpile, officials told Reuters.