Will Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi be able to contain the country’s growing Islamist threat? November 5, 2015 Tobias Borck, a researcher at the Strategy and Security Institute at the University of Exeter, says Yes President Sisi will be able to contain extremist groups in Egypt, but he won’t defeat them. Despite its economic woes, Egypt is not a failing state. There are no swathes of ungoverned territory, nor are significant parts of [...]
New ceasefire effort for Gaza August 10, 2014 ISRAEL and the Palestinians agreed last night to an Egyptian proposal for a new 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, officials from either side said. In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry urged “both sides to exploit this truce to resume indirect negotiations immediately and work towards a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire agreement”. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri [...]
Baroness Warsi resigns over Gaza conflict August 5, 2014 Foreign Office minister Baroness Warsi has resigned from the cabinet because she can no longer support the government's position on Gaza. She made the announcement via a tweet posted today at 9.10am. It said: “With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime Minister & tendered my resignation. I can no longer [...]
As the conflict in Gaza continues, are we seeing a realignment of the Middle East? July 31, 2014 Carly Beckerman-Boys, visiting fellow at the LSE’s Middle East Centre, says Yes. The Gaza conflict has shone a light onto heightened tensions and muscle flexing between regional Arab leaders. Their jockeying over whether to force or entice Hamas into a ceasefire has made old and new regional dividing lines far more visible. Egypt, Jordan and [...]
Israel and Hamas both think they won in Gaza: This crisis is doomed to fester August 5, 2014 After four weeks, the guns over Gaza have been stilled, at least temporarily, as a three-day ceasefire has gone into effect. Further, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – satisfied that, in destroying 32 tunnels, it has significantly (if temporarily) degraded Hamas’s ability to directly strike Israel proper – has announced it is leaving the Palestinian [...]
We’re staring into the abyss in Gaza: Only the US can halt this deadly cycle July 21, 2014 “If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” Moshe Dayan, Israeli politician and military leader IN GAZA, the inexorable logic of destruction continues apace. Since the Israeli ground incursion into the Hamas-dominated enclave began on Thursday, the death toll has risen tragically. Sunday was the worst [...]
The UK is creating a social media army January 31, 2015 The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. The Simpsons missed one important point: the wars of the future [...]
Bafta TV awards 2015: Benedict Cumberbatch wins third leading actor nomination for Sherlock April 8, 2015 Benedict Cumberbatch received his sixth Leading Actor nomination at the Bafta Television Awards today, the third for his starring role in Sherlock. Other BBC dramas Happy Valley and The Missing also featured prominently in Bafta's nominations, with both receiving nods in the best drama series and leading actress and actor categories for Sarah Lancashire and [...]
Israel’s elections are another nail in the coffin for Middle East stability March 22, 2015 Let us be clear. It isn’t that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to win an upset re-election victory in Israel’s parliamentary elections last week that spells the definitive end of the Middle East peace process; it’s the manner in which he did so. With the last opinion polls before the election showing him decisively losing [...]
Israel and Hamas step up fighting as death toll of civilians mounts July 29, 2014 Fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas yesterday intensified, even as diplomats stepped up efforts to bring the 24-day conflict at least to a temporary halt. Electricity was cut to the city of Gaza and many other parts of the Hamas-controlled territory after Israeli shelling of a power plant destroyed tanks holding about three million [...]