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February 10, 2011 Trade Unions: The Revolutionary Social Network at Play in Egypt and Tunisia Co-Authored with Eric Lee Perhaps the most overlooked factor in the demise of the authoritarian Ben Ali regime in Tunisia, and the weakening of Hosni Mubarak's grip on stat... February 10, 2011 Moroccan Exceptionalism? I recently spent nearly two weeks in North Africa, arriving just before popular demonstrations drove Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power and leaving just after the protesters occupi... February 10, 2011 Muslim Brotherhood: The Unreliable Ally Last week Nobel Prize winner and Egyptian reformer Mohamed ElBaradei officially joined forces with the Muslim Brotherhood in an effort to bring down the Egyptian government. Shortly thereafter, t... February 10, 2011 Italian judge Orders Former Gitmo Detainee Freed An Italian judge ordered a former Guantanamo detainee released from jail on Monday. The former detainee, a Tunisian named Adel Ben Mabrouk, had been convicted of terrorism-related charges.... February 9, 2011 Has Mubarak Already Won? Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has learned a few things during his 30 years in power. One of them is how to divide those who oppose him. In recent days, he has done this masterfully, and has re... February 9, 2011 Do the Protesters Want Democracy? Between Twitter, Facebook, and the 24/7 news cycle (which seems to have a built-in 18/7 opinion cycle), we in the U.S. can learn in real time what is happening on the ground thousands of miles aw... February 9, 2011 Why Washington Should be Wary of the Muslim Brotherhood Authored by Steven Sotloff With Egypt’s authoritarian regime on the cusp of collapse, attention is turning to the new political players that will emerge on the national sc... February 8, 2011 Watch It Now – Iranium Roger Simon already sent up a flare about an important new documentary on the threat of a nuclear Iran: Iranium. I’ve just watched it, and this is to second Roger’s endorsement &mdash... February 8, 2011 Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian Army remain aloof from protests Ever since protests broke out in Egypt on Jan. 25 calling for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, much speculation has focused on two groups: the military and the Muslim Brotherhood. Both... February 7, 2011 Iranian FM Barred from Munich Security Conference BERLIN – Iran's newly appointed Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who is barred from visiting the European Union because of his activities in advancing his country's sanctioned nuclear prolifera... February 7, 2011 Analysis: Germany’s Erratic Course with Israel BERLIN – The social and political unrest unfolding in Egypt overshadowed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit last week to Israel. While in Israel as part of a joint German- Israeli cabinet se... February 7, 2011 Dissecting Radical Islam It’s easy to understand the trepidation that some Muslim Americans express about the upcoming House hearings on Islamic radicalism in the United States. Such hearings are often theater, whe... February 7, 2011 In Defense of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Afshin Ellian Paul Berman's book, The Flight of the Intellectuals, which was neglected or dismissed by many in the liberal press without its reviewers seriously engaging with its arguments, deals es... February 7, 2011 Afghan Peace Council Requests Release of Gitmo Detainee Afghanistan's High Peace Council has requested the release of Khairullah Khairkhwa, a top Taliban leader, from Guantanamo. The council was set up by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2010 as... February 6, 2011 A Power Vacuum in Egypt? After meeting with embattled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak last week at the behest of President Barack Obama, former U.S. ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner suggested Mubarak should stay in powe... February 6, 2011 Taliban Mourn Death of ‘Eminent Commander’ at Gitmo In a piece last week, I noted that a former Taliban commander, Awal Gul, died of an apparent heart attack at Guantanamo on Tuesday, Feb. 1. The Taliban have now released a statement online... February 6, 2011 How Democracy Became Halal IN the Western study of medieval Islamic history, the institution of iqta — land grants from the sovereign to his soldiers — once loomed large, because scholars searched for reasons b... February 6, 2011 The Next Decade,’ by George Friedman: Review The Next Decade Where We've Been ... and Where We're Going By George Friedman (Doubleday; 243 pages; $27.95) One can easily understand why George Fri... February 5, 2011 Don’t Count on Egypt’s Army My name is Khalid Islambouli,” the assassin thundered. “I have slain Pharaoh, and I do not fear death!” This was at an annual state parade in Cairo on October 6, 1981. Islamboul... February 5, 2011 Reagan at 100: The 40th President, American Security and Missile Defense Co-Authored with Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III (USAF, ret.) A century ago, on Feb. 6th, 1911, Ronald Reagan was born. Much has been written about his presidential leade... February 4, 2011 UN and U.S. Double Standards: Egypt vs. Iran After an initial United Nations response to the mass uprising in Egypt of … well, not much… Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has jumped into the fray. On Wednesday and again on Thursda... February 4, 2011 An Immediate Exit for Mubarak? Over the course of 10 excruciating days, the White House has inched toward calling for the resignation of embattled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. A likely scenario is now one in which newly-i... February 4, 2011 U.S. Senators Demand that Germany Close Iran EIH Bank U.S. frustration with German chancellor Angela Merkel and her foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, seems to have reached a breaking point this week. Germany's recalcitrant position about shutting d... February 4, 2011 Three Qualities That Made Reagan Great During my nine years in the White House, I had the good fortune to work for three presidents—Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and, for the last four, Ronald Reagan, whom I served as national secu... February 4, 2011 Former Taliban Commander Dies at Gitmo A former Taliban commander died Tuesday evening at Guantanamo after suffering an apparent heart attack or similar ailment. US Southern Command released a statement on Thursday explaining that the... February 3, 2011 Will Cairo be Berlin in 1989 or Tehran in 1979? The popular uprising in Egypt invites a variety of historical comparisons. It could end up like Bucharest in 1989 — cosmetic change in the leadership that subsequently resulted in violent o... February 2, 2011 Mubarak v. the Brotherhood It is simply delirious to suggest that we can work with the Muslim Brotherhood, that the Brotherhood has renounced violence, or that a Brotherhood-led government will ultimately be better f... February 2, 2011 The Problem of the Friendly Tyrant We’ve had many alliances with friendly tyrants, from Stalin to Papa Doc, from Mubarak to Pinochet, from the shah to the Saudi royal family. It’s not an easy embr... February 1, 2011 El Baradei and the Al Qaqaa Affair I’d all but forgotten this — but Powerline remembered: El Baradei achieved his greatest renown in connection with the pre-war weapons inspections in Iraq, which he hea... February 1, 2011 How Far Will Egypt Tumult Spread? Immediately after the fall of Tunisia's 23-year dictator, Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali, analysts warned of a domino effect across the Arab world. Would-be democrats in other Arab countries reason... February 1, 2011 Mubarak won’t run again — what’s the effect? Hosni Mubarak's announcement sparked immediate outrage from the Egyptian protestors, who have stated repeatedly over the last several days that they seek nothing less than his ouster.... February 1, 2011 Somalia in Need of New Approach Two Decades after State Collapse Last week marked the twentieth anniversary of the night when Mohamed Siyad Barre, president of the last entity that could plausibly be described as the government of Somalia, fled Mogadishu in hi... February 1, 2011 The Answer to Egypt’s Problems? President Mubarak’s government may soon collapse. Popular support for him has evaporated, and while the Obama administration has declined to officially take sides in the Egyptian protests,... February 1, 2011 Italian Court Convicts Former Gitmo Detainee of Terrorism Charges A former Guantanamo detainee transferred to Italy in late 2009 was convicted of terrorism-related charges on Monday. Mohamed Ben Riadh Nasri, who is originally from Tunisia, was convicted "of cri... January 31, 2011 What Could Be Worse Than ElBaradei? Jay could not be more correct that Mohammed ElBaradei is a menace. He is more responsible than any non-Iranian for the progress the mullahs have made on their nuke program (with dishonorabl... January 31, 2011 Diplomat Slams German-Iranian Trade Ahead of Merkel Trip BERLIN – Emmanuel Nahshon, the deputy chief of mission for the Israeli Embassy, criticized what he said was the planned promotion of German-Iranian trade at a conference on exports to Iran to be... January 31, 2011 Ahmadinejad Says Homosexuality Goes ‘Against Human Spirit’ BERLIN – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is continuing to vilify homosexuals, according to the Islamic Republic's statecontrolled ILNA news agency. "They asked me [at Columbia University in... January 31, 2011 Steel Deal Reveals Pawlenty’s Priorities on Security, Jobs If former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty decides, as expected, to run for president in 2012, he likely will talk about a unique national security qualification from 2007 in which he nudged an Indian c... January 31, 2011 Who Stands With Iran’s Opposition? PARIS — Excruciating new problems never nullify the old ones. In the case of Iran's potential nuclear threat, Egypt's gathering implosion — joined by some new elements of concern — is only mo... January 31, 2011 Fear the Muslim Brotherhood At the Daily Beast, Bruce Riedel has posted an essay called “Don’t fear Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood,” the classic, conventional-wisdom response to the crisis in Egypt. The... January 31, 2011 Watch the Islamists An estimated three dozen Islamist militants reportedly escaped from an Egyptian prison on Sunday amid the chaos that has enveloped the country. This did little to quiet the raging debate over the... January 30, 2011 What Would a Post-Mubarak Egypt Look Like? The road to Egypt's future forks in three different directions. Which exit the Egyptian people take is still anyone's guess. The first exit is effectively a U-turn back t... January 30, 2011 Egypt: Please, Not ElBaradei Freedom, justice, and prosperity for Egypt are devoutly to be wished. As is abundantly clear by now, the big question for the genuine democrats among the demonstrators, and a big question for the... January 30, 2011 Cancer, Carter and Obama There are some eery similarities between Egypt 2011 and Iran 1979, and some of them are unfortunately about American leadership. There are some big differences, too, but for the moment let&... January 29, 2011 Untangling Ghailani In Manhattan on Tuesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan gave al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Ghailani a sentence of life imprisonment after his conviction on a single count of conspiring to bomb American embassies... January 28, 2011 The Muslim Brotherhood is No Friend Writing for the Daily Beast, Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and adviser to the Obama administration, argues that the U.S. can coexist with a Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Egypt. The Obam... January 28, 2011 Egypt: Revolution? By Whom? For What? As I’ve remarked in the past–but you can’t say the truth too often, right? — nobody knows what a revolution looks like. And in fact that last clause may be very misl... January 28, 2011 Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Revolution "I herewith proclaim to those (Western leaders) who still do not want to see the realities that the political axis of the new Middle East will soon be Islamic rulership and a democracy base... January 28, 2011 Will Obama back Middle East Democracy Movements? President Barack Obama campaigned as the polar opposite of his predecessor, George W. Bush, heralding the end of the Bush Doctrine, in which Arab political reform played a central role. Upo... January 28, 2011 Democracy Is Calling in Egypt — Can Obama Hear It? "We do big things," President Barack Obama said of Americans in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. But as he presented his presidential laundry list of domestic policy ideas, big thing...

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