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.
Middle East and North Africa
Julien Barnes-Dacey on the neighbours driving the Syrian conflict
Julien Barnes-Dacey explains which countries are driving the conflict in Syria to Nicholas Walton, in the first of two podcasts on Syria's…
Iran and the Rouhani opportunity
Does the inauguration of Rouhani as Iranian president bring an opportunity to make progress on Iran's nuclear ambitions? Nicholas Walton speaks to Anniseh…
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.
11 Jul
Drones and targeted killing: Defining a European position
The discussion will examine recent changes in US drone policy announced by President Barack Obama, consider what the right standard for regulating drones should be, and explore the possibility of the US and European states working together on rules for the new era of drone warfare
Egypt and the army’s roadmap
After the killing of at least 51 Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt, and the army's announcement of its roadmap for the return to democracy,…
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.