North Africa

A Russian Role in Egypt’s $12 Billion BP Deal

By Rachel Williamson

For the first time, a Russian-owned company has taken a key position in Egypt’s critically important natural gas sector, and it’s a powerful message that the rekindled relationship runs deeper than promises and trade deals.

What Was Pledged at Egypt’s Investment Conference?

By EgyptSource

Prior to Egypt’s Economic Development Conference, Investment Minister Ashraf Salman had said Egypt expects to sign agreements worth up to $20 billion at the summit. With the conference coming to a close on Sunday, Salman revealed the final figures coming out of the summit. According to Salman, Egypt signed deals worth a total $38.2 billion, […]

Defending Italy from the Islamic State

By James Stavridis, Washington Post

Following the decapitation of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by radical Islamists professing an allegiance to the Islamic State, the Italian government has begun ramping up efforts to defend its territory from attack. How realistic is this threat? And what should Italy do?

Q&A: Egypt Launches the First Day of its Economic Conference

Egypt launched its three day economic conference in Sharm al-Sheikh on Friday, with thirty heads of state in attendance. In the first day, over $13 billion in aid was pledged to Egypt, the bulk of which has come from the Gulf countries of UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Find out more about the first day […]

The New Face of Egypt’s Interior Ministry

By Khaled Dawoud

As attacks against security forces show no signs of abating, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi recently replaced Egypt’s Interior Minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, with Magdy Abdel Ghaffar. However, Sisi was keen to make it clear this was not in response to opposition demands, and even provided Ibrahim with an honorary title of National Security Adviser to the Prime […]

Germany’s Foreign Minister: The Transatlantic Order is Under Challenge

By Frank-Walter Steinmeier, New York Times

Today, the trans-Atlantic bond is being tested again. Crises are erupting ever closer to the European Union’s borders:

Why Was Ahmed Douma Given a Life Sentence?

By Sonia Farid

In the midst of a series of court rulings targeting young Egyptian activists on charges related to the controversial protest law, the life sentence handed to Ahmed Douma has been the most shocking. Charged with illegal assembly, assaulting security forces, and vandalism, Douma was also fined 17 million Egyptian Pounds for the alleged damage he […]