Whatever else it may do, the pending agreement is intended to provide the political cover for a U.S. departure from Afghanistan at an opportune time with this an election year.
Egypt’s burgeoning population is one of the biggest threats to its future.
The eastern Mediterranean has become an increasingly important focus for Turkey’s foreign and security policy, but the interlocking of new issues like energy politics and sovereignty rights with old problems like Cyprus has created significant challenges for Ankara.
The green movement has been slow to catch on in Egypt, but the January announcement by the Egyptian government that it is finalizing plans to launch the country’s first green bonds could provide the financial incentives to further promote sustainable development. “Sustainability” is one of the fastest growing sectors globally, estimated to reach as much as $12 trillion annually by 2030.
The picture of how the two Pakistani Taliban leaders died is hazy and who killed them uncertain.
As Egypt’s presidency of the AU comes to an end, it will have to maintain its focus on Africa to prove that it was not a one-time effort.
Egypt has realized a significant number of changes in healthcare, education, and economic reform policy over the past decade. It is also increasingly looking toward policy for development that emphasizes cohesive problem solving, in line with its Vision 2030 strategy, which highlights the need for positive knock-on effects from investments in human development
The latest talks in Washington brought about some concrete, and cautiously welcome, results.
18 years after CIA and U.S. special operations elements touched down in Afghanistan to pursue al-Qaeda and topple the Taliban, ongoing, incremental troop reductions reveal the smoke and mirrors manner in which the U.S. is withdrawing from the conflict in lieu of a negotiated settlement.
Accomplished craftspeople are a dying breed in Cairo, but Jameel House of Traditional Arts and Atelier Cairo are working to change that by training a new generation of artisans in traditional media like ceramics, wood, brass, glass, and gypsum work (stucco), helping to replenish the stock of skilled Egyptian craftspeople and keeping rare and beautiful art forms alive.
It is profoundly in the interest of the U.S. to help all three countries arrive at an amicable working solution.
The Taliban still apparently balk at an accord that makes any provision for the retention of an American counter-terrorism force.
While the world is engaged in an ongoing discussion about the ramifications of the trade war between Washington, DC and Beijing, the economies of the Middle East are shifting away from their longstanding ties with the U.S. toward economically powerful China. This may have long-term implications for economic and political dynamics in the region.
Over the past five years, the focus of U.S. counterterrorism strategists has remained on the Middle East, especially after the emergence of ISIS in 2014, while Islamist terrorist organizations operating in South Asia have been considered a secondary threat. However, the fact remains that South Asia is home to more Islamist terrorist organizations than any other region of the world. Al-Qaeda was born there, in Afghanistan, and ISIS has roots in the region. But at the turn of the decade both global jihadist groups are now facing major challenges and the critical question is whether they will manage to survive this period of crisis amid a severe leadership vacuum following the death of ISIS’s supreme leader and caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the killing of al-Qaeda heir apparent Hamza bin Laden.
To the west, the rapidly evolving situation in Libya is causing a major governmental migraine.