Middle East

Syria: A Shot in the Dark

By Julian Lindley-French

There are times when a punitive military strike can be justified, legitimate, proportionate, and effective. US Secretary of State John Kerry has described last week’s use of chemical weapons against the population of a Damascus suburb as a “moral obscenity.” He is of course right–the use of such weapons against civilians is a disgusting act […]

The Libyan Economy after the Revolution: Still No Clear Vision

Most headlines out of Libya today are about the political and security crises gripping the country, and little has been said about the state of the economy beyond a recent spate of oil export disruptions. Hariri Center Senior Fellows Mohsin Khan and Karim Mezran recently authored an issue brief evaluating Libya’s underlying structural economic problems […]

Pentagon Sees Syrian Military, Not Chemical Sites, as Target

By Thom Shanker, C.J. Chivers and Michael R. Gordon, New York Times

President Obama is considering a range of limited military actions against Syria that are designed to “deter and degrade” the ability of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to launch chemical weapons, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

Report: NATO Planning Emergency Meeting on Syria on Thursday

By ITAR-TASS

NATO is planning an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Syria in the wake of the chemical attack in suburban Damascus on August 21. According to the available information, the meeting might take place on August 29, a well-informed diplomatic source told Itar-Tass.

Top News: Secularists to Dominate Egypt’s Final Constitution-Drafting Process

By EgyptSource

Informed sources close to the ten-member technical committee tasked with drafting the constitutional amendments revealed to Ahram Online that: “The presidency has already received the names nominated by political, religious, social and economic institutions to form the fifty member committee.” The lists show that secular forces are slated to gain a majority in the fifty member committee

A Sad Melody at the End of the Road

By Ahmed Naje

The time for retreat is past and all the chances to avoid this path have been burned up. The incendiary speeches are escalating from every side and are morphing from incitement to war speeches. The television stations put up the slogan “Egypt is fighting terrorism” written in English and no one tells us who and […]

Hof Looks at Kerry’s Syria Statement

In a piece on MENASource, Fred Hof looks at Secretary of State Kerry’s recent statements about Syria.

Syria: The Kerry Statement

By Fred C. Hof

Secretary of State John Kerry’s August 26, 2013 statement on Syria was powerful and direct. In the absence of a diplomatic deus ex machina it clearly indicates that an American military strike is coming.

Syria: Russia Dooms Hopes of UN Security Council Resolution

By Raf Sanchez and Roland Oliphant, Telegraph

As the US, Britain and France edged closer to approving strikes in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons, the Kremlin said that the West was moving down “a very dangerous path.”