President Barack Obama today proposed a U.S.$770 million fund to “incentivize” democratic reform in the Arab world, but some lawmakers expressed reservations about making funds available to illiberal actors.
The announcement coincided with claims by an Egyptian minister in charge …
Russian Premier Vladimir Putin today outlined plans to boost spending on healthcare, education and social services in a populist drive to placate discontented middle-class voters prior to next month’s presidential election. But his proposals to stem the country’s demographic decline …
China’s leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping (left), arrives in the United States this week, as factional fighting is breaking out within the ruling Communist party prior to the once-a-decade transition to a new leadership.
While some analysts believe Xi is more …
Tunisia’s democratic transition got a shot in the arm this weekend when more than twenty democracies and the World Bank made strong commitments to providing assistance, as a merger of the country’s secular parties signaled a new effort to counter …
Egypt’s military junta has issued an ominous warning that it will not tolerate conspiracies to undermine the state, as it deployed tanks and troops (above) on Cairo streets prior to anti-military protests scheduled for tomorrow’s anniversary of President Hosni Mubarak’s …
On the third anniversary of Zimbabwe’s unity government, President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s fragile partnership is credited with delivering a degree of stability after 2008’s violent elections.
But this week’s brutal assault on members of a leading …
A prominent anti-graft activist has been arrested in Burundi, one of Africa’s most corrupt countries, after revealing that judges are required to pay bribes to secure their posts, writes Nancy Welch.
The arrest of anticorruption campaigner Faustin Ndikumana (left), …
The arrest of a dissident monk in Burma weeks after his release from prison is raising concern about the military-backed civilian-led government’s commitment to reform.
But while “regressive elements” are a threat to the reform process, the lack of capacity …
The Obama administration today clarified that it has not yet received a document detailing the formal charges against US nationals working for pro-democracy groups in Egypt.
“So we are asking for it,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. “But …
U.S. Senator Rand Paul (above) this afternoon formally proposed a moratorium on U.S. assistance to Egypt in light of the regime’s crackdown on pro-democracy NGOs.
The furor is fraying U.S.-Egyptian relations at a potentially critical time in the country’s political …