Middle East and North Africa

Europe must recognise that Egypt is not moving to democracy

As Egypt appears to lurch back towards a pre-revolutionary security state, there's an urgent need for the EU to make a firm statement that the country is no longer moving towards a democratic future

Who will pick up the pieces in Egypt?

This week's violence in Egypt is a watershed moment in the country's recent history, heralding more political contestation that is likely to be both harsh and unbalanced in favour of the government

Netanyahu hasn’t crossed the Rubicon

Conjecture abounds as to whether the PM has entered peace talks to do business or to filibuster; but the commitment recently displayed by the U.S. means testing times ahead for Israel's coalition.

The regional struggle for Syria

Two years after the beginning of an uprising against President Bashar-al-Assad, Syria is gripped by an ever deepening civil war that is having a significant impact on the entire region.  

The Peace Process is back

The cynics may not believe it, but John Kerry's push to get Israelis and Palestinians talking could actually work. And even Europe is helping by ending Israeli impunity over settlements.  

Actually, drones worry Europe more than spying

It is not data protection and surveillance that produces the most complications for the transatlantic intelligence relationship, but rather America's use of armed drones to kill terrorist suspects.  

Repression and violence after the coup in Egypt

Europe should remember that the elements in Egypt that are now likely to be on top of the political system – the Army, the judiciary, the intelligence services –  represent a completely unreformed inheritance from the “deep state” as it existed under Mubarak.  

Mubarak’s children come home

This is not a victory for freedom but for the old regime, or more precisely the Egyptian deep-state – a bureaucratic, military, and business elite, that never went away, is considered to be the real power in Egypt and that just reasserted its interests.