Fred Hiatt, Washington Post Editorial Page Editor, delivered a keynote address at the conference “Civil Society Under Assault” on September 12 in Washington, DC. The conference was co-hosted by Freedom House and Human Rights First. Below is an excerpt, focusing on the Arab Spring and diminished US global leadership: …[T]he Arab Spring did not live up to hopes.…
Read MoreFollowing AIC Tunisia’s launch of new competition, “The Leader,” three AIC staff members spoke on September 16 on International Radio of Tunis (RTCI) during a special broadcast. “Tune in Tunisia” : program participant Roua Krimi, “The Leader” contest judge Kerim Bouzouita, and AIC Tunisia office intern Sana Ben Sayeh, each shared details of their involvement in ‘Tune…
Read MoreThey’re not all jihadist dead-ender Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry went against received wisdom—and against the assessment of the White House he works for—when he argued that Syrian opposition forces are not dominated by Islamic extremists. “I just don’t agree that a majority are al Qaeda and the bad guys,” Kerry argued in…
Read MoreAnna Borshchevskaya On September 7, al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel group al-Nusra seized control of the historic Christian town of Maaloula in Syria. “We cleansed Maaloula from all the Assad dogs and all his thugs,” proudly declared a rebel commander in a posted online video. The group, however, withdrew this week, only days after seizing control. I visited…
Read MoreOn September 10, The Diplomatic Courier has included former AIC Egypt Director Dalia Ziada in their ‘Top 99 Under 33’ Influencer list. Click here to read the article.
Read MoreAnna Borshchevskaya As Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meet in Geneva to discuss the Syrian crisis, President Obama hopes the talk yield a “concrete result.” Such an outcome is highly unlikely. It is difficult to imagine that Russian President Putin—his strongest supporter– sincerely aims at disarming Assad. Putin’s proposal…
Read More(Reuters) – The United States will insist that Syriatake rapid steps to show it is serious about abandoning its vast chemical arsenal, senior U.S. officials said, as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva on Thursday for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Read MoreAt least 10 Americans have signed up with al Qaeda-related groups in Syria, according to U.S. intelligence estimates. Sources tell Eli Lake why the country’s civil war is a ‘jihad magnet.’
Read MoreOn September 12, Nasser Weddady was quoted in the Boston Globe article, “Conventional killings left out of Syria debate.” Click here to read the article.
Read MoreAIC Tunisia office director Basma Azizi and program coordinator as well as former participant of Tune in Tunisia, Khouloud Chandarli, spoke on September 11 on Shems FM in Tunisia. Azizi discussed AIC history and the Tune in Tunisia program. Khouloud discussed the selection process for this year’s The Leader competition, social entrepreneurship in Tunisia more broadly, and…
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