President Obama today delivered a lengthy speech on U.S. policy in the Middle East that promised continued American support for democratic transitions in the countries influenced by the “Arab Spring.” He outlined an overly optimistic vision of what an Israeli–Palestinian peace settlement would look like. But he missed an opportunity …
Earlier this week, former National Security Adviser Jim Jones was promoting “a type of Marshall Plan for emerging democratic states like Egypt.” The White House has now stated that in his speech on the Middle East this morning, President Obama will announce a new foreign aid package for Egypt. Egypt’s …
In January, Heritage Senior Research Fellow Jim Phillips predicted that Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution would spark uprisings throughout the Arab world. Four months later, North Africa and the Middle East are experiencing substantial governmental transformations, and there is no end in sight. Tunisia As the first leadership casualty of the “Arab …
Good Friday, a holy day for Christians around the world, is turning out to be a bad day for Egyptian Christians. Thousands of Muslims gathered to protest the appointment of a Coptic Christian governor in the Qena province this week. This incident comes amid a campaign of discrimination and violence …
Food prices are on the rise across the globe, fueling much of the political unrest that continues to rage in parts of the Middle East. Unexpectedly severe weather and soaring demand have pushed food prices to “dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people,” said World Bank President Robert …
In a private phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, almost two weeks after the unrest began, President Barack Obama finally called for Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi to step down. While the President’s inertia may have been mitigated by the need to get Americans out of the country so Qadhafi …
Recent upheavals in the Middle East—including the overthrow of the governments in Tunisia and Egypt, riots in Bahrain, and near civil war in Libya—raise the question of what lessons the People’s Republic of China, and especially the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are likely to have learned. The concern focuses not …
Shutting down the Internet did precious little good for Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. It is not likely to do Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi much good either. In fact, it appeared to intensify the determination of the Arab protesters, who found themselves cut off from the world. Yet on Friday, that was …
Iran is sending two warships through Egypt’s Suez Canal for the first time since Iran’s 1979 revolution. The two ships, a frigate and a military supply ship, are reportedly bound for Syria. The new Egyptian government gave its official permission for the passage despite the fact that Iran and Egypt …
