The House moved to Tobruk after armed groups supportive of the General National Congress began to overrun the capital.
Group items matching
in title, tags, annotations or url
9More
Libya: Where are the dividing lines? - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - 0 views
-
Libya's new parliament, dominated by self-styled secular and nationalist candidates, was formed after the heavy defeat of Islamist candidates in June elections.
-
In the House of Representatives camp, many figures have come together in opposition to the contentious political isolation law, which banned anyone involved with the former regime from political participation.
- ...5 more annotations...
-
Errishi told Al Jazeera that oil revenues pass through the country's central bank. With members of Libya Dawn guarding the gates to the central bank, Errishi added that "the central bank is controlled by whomever is controlling Tripoli".
-
The UAE, which is home to Mahmoud Jibril, a leading politician opposed to Libya's Islamist groups, has been accused by the US of bombing sites held by Misrata forces with the help of Egypt.
-
t has also been alleged that Qatar, which plays host to Ali Salabi, a leading spiritual figure with close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, has provided weapons and support to Brotherhood-affiliated groups battling former general Haftar.
-
With the displacement of 100,000 people due to fighting in Tripoli and Benghazi, however, the Libya crisis may not yet have taken its worst turn. "If we see more brigades going to one side over the other," said researcher Hamedi, "this will lead to civil war. The role of the regional environment is to help the domestic equation reach a deal."
-
-
Due to Libya's lack of institutional structure and weak centralized government, rival militia violence and clashes have created constant chaos leading the country towards another civil war. After the fall of Qaddafi, who obliterated institutions necessary for a functional government, Libya has been unable to manage the state. The National Transitional Council, which replaced the Qaddafi Regime, turned into the General National Congress and was given 18 months to form a democratic constitution. When the deadline passed the constitution was incomplete, which forced Congress to organize elections to a new House of Representatives. The former GNC members declared a new self proclaimed GNC, electing Omar al-Hasi as their prime minister. The new GNC is not recognized by Libya's parliament nor is it by the international community. Al Jazeera says the country literally has two parliaments and two governments, creating inconceivable instability throughout the state. The newly elected House has moved to Tobruk after armed islamic GNC militia groups overran the capital, seizing control over the major institutions in Tripoli. Due to this lack of a functional government, the rest of the state has turned to chaos. After the civil war, anti and pro Qaddafi forces branched into militias striving for power. Without a working state and government, militias had to rely on themselves to provide security, and really have no incentive to give up arms and no true government to be a part of. General Khalifa Hifter, a former Qaddafi general who later joined the Libyan rebel army in 2011, formed an anti-militia militia, targeting islamist militias like Ansar al-Sharia. Hifter is not affiliated with either of the governments, but rather strives for a military government, and supreme control of the armed forces.
28More
Are China and Russia Moving toward a Formal Alliance? | The Diplomat - 0 views
-
-
-
- ...25 more annotations...
-
In the joint statement issued by China and Russia, the main message is that China-Russia relations have reached a new stage of comprehensive strategic partnership and this will help increase both countries’ international status and influence, thus contributing to a more just international order
-
China secures a long-term (30 years) provision of natural gas from Russia and Russia can reduce its dependence on the European markets as well as strengthen Russia’s position against Western sanctions
-
Russia is now moving closer to China’s side with regard to the territorial disputes between China and Japan
-
China and Russia last week vetoed a draft UN resolution to send Syria to the International Criminal Court for war crimes. China and Russia had vetoed three previous UNSC resolutions condemning Syria
-
China and Russia will deepen cooperation under the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Asia (CICA), a new security framework in Asia-Pacific that conveniently excludes the U.S. and Japan.
-
mutual strategic needs as both China and Russia want to create a multipolar world that is not dominated by the U.S., particularly as China faces threats from the US-led alliance in Asia
-
China’s chance of winning maritime disputes with Japan partly depends on maintaining a good relationship with Russia
-
the NATO expansion is a serious threat to Russia’s national security and as such Russia has to fight back
-
new China-Russia alliance is now emerging and this will eventually lead to a multi-polar world order.
-
problems in China-Russia relations such as historical mistrust, the lack of a common threat, and conflicting interests in Central Asia
-
he most important factor determining whether China and Russia should form an alliance is whether the two countries have shared strategic interests and how long such shared strategic interests can last
-
China nor Russia could become a member of the Western bloc led by the U.S. because other allies of the U.S. would feel threatened by China and Russia
-
, China’s number two position in the world means that China will not be supported by the U.S. with regard to most international affairs issues
-
Yan also refutes the argument that a China-Russia alliance against the U.S. would lead to another cold war.
-
ould be potentially high costs of such an alliance due to common problems such as fears of abandonment and entrapment
-
Russia wants to maintain good relations with all Asian states and thus will not side with China when it comes to territorial disputes between China and Japan
-
China-Russia alliance is unrealistic and a strategic partnership is more flexible and better for China.
-
seems that in the near future a formal alliance between China and Russia will not happen due to a variety of reasons.
1More
Use Of Social Media Leads To News Outlets Providing False Information - WIBW News Now! - 0 views
-
-
This article goes into talking about how the speed of news trumps the accuracy of information. In todays fast paced society, social media is a great way to find out whats going on at the drop of a hat. However, the information we are exposed to on a daily basis can be filled with fabrication for many different reasons. This article speaks highly of methods like "crowdsourcing", but goes on to say that a "gatekeeper" for this information is needed, making sure no fabrication occurs. This leads me to think about how in developed countries we even have a hard time spotting false information, and how places like the Middle East must have a even more difficult time finding out whats real, leading to uproar and uncertainty on a large scale.
-
11More
shared by allieggg on 19 Nov 14
- No Cached
The New Arab Cold War - 0 views
www.foreignpolicy.com/...r_saudi_arabia_uae_libya_syria
leadership proxy wars polarization US Saudi Qatar Turkey UAE politics war
![](/images/link.gif)
-
It stretches from Iraq to Lebanon and reaches into North Africa, taking lives in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt's Western Desert, and now Libya
-
this violence is the result of a nasty fight between regional powers over who will lead the Middle East
-
The recent Egyptian and Emirati airstrikes on Libyan Islamist militias is just one manifestation of this fight for leadership among Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). All these countries have waded into conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, and now Libya in order to establish themselves as regional leaders.
- ...7 more annotations...
-
Yet these regional contenders for power have rarely achieved their goals. Instead, they have fueled violence, political conflict, and polarization, deepening the endemic problems in the countries they have sought to influence.
-
Barack Obama's attempt to disentangle the United States from the Middle East's many conflicts has only intensified these rivalries. From a particular perspective, Iraq's chaos, Syria's civil war, Libya's accelerating disintegration, and Hosni Mubarak's fall all represent failures of American leadership.
-
Turkish government has become a leading advocate of regime change in Syria. Unwilling to intervene in the Syrian civil war and unable to coax the United States to do so, Ankara turned a blind eye to extremist groups that used Turkish territory to take up the fight against Assad.
-
Yet the war of words between Ankara and Cairo since then and the support that the Turkish government has extended to the Muslim Brotherhood
-
Qatar has been less circumspect than others in its support for groups fighting in Syria and Iraq, both offering official funding to Islamist groups in Syria and allowing private contributions to groups including al-Nusra Front, al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate.
-
These conflicts have less to do with Iran and the Sunni-Shiite divide than widely believed. Rather, they represent a fracturing of Washington's Sunni allies in the Middle East. Left to their own devices, the proxy wars the Saudis, Emiratis, Qataris, and Turks are waging among themselves will continue to cause mayhem
-
This article basically states that since the US's withdrawal from Middle Eastern affairs, regional actors were left to fight over who will lead the region's future. The fight is baiscally a run off between Turkey, Qatar, Saudi, and the UAE, each country doing their part intervening in conflicts aiding their supported side. Rather than achieving goals, these proxy wars have fueled the violence, chaos, and polarization deepening the problems they originally sought to mend. While the US has succeeded in abstaining from Mid East affairs, the question now is whether or not they should continue this resignation or step in to urge for order and peace.
11More
BBC News - Russia and China veto UN move to refer Syria to ICC - 0 views
-
Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have referred the conflict in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC
-
More than 60 countries supported the French-drafted text calling for an investigation into alleged war crimes being committed by both sides
-
It is the fourth time Russia and China have blocked Western resolutions relating to the situation in Syria
- ...7 more annotations...
-
The 13 other members of the Security Council voted on Thursday in favour of the draft resolution, which condemned the "widespread violation" of human rights and international humanitarian law by Syrian government forces, as well as abuses by "non-state armed groups
-
France put forward the draft after the collapse of the UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva in January and February, and amid growing horror at atrocities committed by both sides, reports the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher in New Yor
-
The Syrian government had called the resolution "biased" and an effort to "sabotage any chance of peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis led by the Syrian people themselves
-
US envoy Samantha Power said that because of Russia and China's decision "to back the Syrian regime no matter what it does, the Syrian people will not see justice
-
Syria is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC. Unless the government ratifies the treaty or accepts the jurisdiction of the court through a declaration, the ICC can only obtain jurisdiction if the Security Council refers the situation there to the court
-
Russia and China once again veto a resolution that would have lead to an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Syrian governments possible violation of human rights, and international humanitarian law. This is the fourth time both countries have vetoed resolutions relating to the situation in Syria.
21More
UN plan to relocate Syrian refugees in northern Europe | World news | The Guardian - 0 views
-
“orderly relocation” of thousands of Syrian refugees from southern Europe to richer countries in the north, and is pressing the EU to agree to a year-long pilot programme
-
the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, has approached senior EU figures to get backing for its pilot programme
- ...17 more annotations...
-
is a radical departure from current EU policy, which forces asylum seekers to apply for asylum in their first country of entry, under legislation known as the Dublin law.
-
We need to convince them that it is better to go legally, that there is an alternative to months of suffering
-
More than 3 million people are estimated to have fled the country in the past four years, and although the vast majority have remained in neighbouring countries – Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan – thousands have tried to make the perilous journey to Europe.
-
Most of those who survive the Mediterranean crossing – and more than 3,000 died last year – end up in Italy and Greece
-
apply for asylum in their country of arrival. But only a tiny minority do. In practice, many migrants simply slip through the net and move, vulnerably, around Europe.
-
Syrians who chose to move irregularly across Europe could be reduced if people were allowed to legally travel onwards to join family or move to countries where they have language skills or work opportunities
-
The proposed relocation, which would start as a one-year pilot programme, would focus only on Syrians who have been recognised as refugees in Italy and Greece and would depend on an initial voluntary commitment from member states
-
previous attempts to reform the Dublin law have been met with fierce resistance during internal EU discussions
-
UK and other northern European countries have fought in both domestic and European courts to defend the right to return asylum seekers to their first country of entry
-
the commission is discussing with the member states on how to ensure a more balanced distribution of resettled refugees among all member states. We wil
-
Cochetel acknowledged that only a significant interest in building a new system would create a change in behaviour among desperate migrants
-
massive irregular secondary movements feeding trafficking, leading to human suffering and exploitation
2More
Drone strikes in Yemen Archives - The Bureau of Investigative Journalism - 0 views
-
Site offers information on the drone strikes in Yemen and data charts depicting who is dying. Other links on website lead to other news articles relating to drone strikes in other countries as well such as Pakistan.
-
Site offers information on the drone strikes in Yemen and data charts depicting who is dying. Other links on website lead to other news articles relating to drone strikes in other countries as well such as Pakistan.
1More
UK activists call to ban Hezbollah entirely - Europe - News - Arutz Sheva - 0 views
-
"Activists in the UK have launched a campaign to have Hezbollah officially proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the British government. The Israel-Britain Alliance is leading the campaign to have Hezbollah officially proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government. Nearly 20 different organisations, both Jewish and Christian, have thrown their weight behind the initiative so far."
1More
Egypt Women Against the Coup Marks Women's Day Highlighting Suffering Under Repressive ... - 0 views
-
This article was written during International Women's day and hightlights what women face under repressive regime. "At the hands of the coup regime in Egypt, women suffer horrific crimes including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, violent rape, displacement, severe torture (often leading to permanent disability), sham military trials, unjust death sentences, enforced disappearances, brutal degrading treatment of political prisoners' wives and daughters while visiting relatives in the military junta's detention centers."
1More
UAE's 1st female fighter pilot carried out strikes on ISIS - CBS News - 0 views
1More
Egypt says killed 26 Sinai 'terrorists' over last week | Middle East Eye - 0 views
-
In the week leading up to 9/28/14 the Egyptian army has killed 26 terrorists and arrested 84 others. The operations took place mainly in and around the Sinai peninsula and include the destruction of 18 cross border tunnels between Egypt and Gaza and thwarting illegal immigration of 148 people. This was part of a larger ongoing operation against unknown militants in Sinai that rose up after the ousting of Mohamed Morsi last summer.
10More
shared by allieggg on 05 Oct 14
- No Cached
Wasta, Work and Corruption in Transnational Business | CONNECTED in CAIRO - 0 views
connectedincairo.com/...tion-in-transnational-business
middle east watsa corruption Business Egypt Family
![](/images/link.gif)
micklethwait liked it
-
Girgis worked for a company that insisted as part of their global corporate culture that there be no “corruption.” Six years after opening its office in Egypt, they continued to be plagued by behaviors they understood to be “corrupt.”
-
I explained that wasta referred to a network of informal loans and favors traded by Arab men in order to move up in the world.
-
Encouraged by my open, neutral tone, Girgis opened up further. “My father mortgaged family lands to pay for my college,” Girgis said. “I owe him everything. If he asks me to find a job for his brother’s son, how can I say no?”
- ...6 more annotations...
-
“You can send me anywhere else in the world and I’ll run the office by the book,” Girgis told his supervisor. “But I can’t do that here.”
-
any Egyptian man they hired to run the office would be equally suspended in webs of wasta obligations
-
“investment and return” frame I created for understanding, emphasizing the economic parallels between Arab families and running a business
-
, I’ve known several Egyptian businessmen who thought wasta was an improvement on Western models of hiring.
-
Net result: greater loyalty, less likelihood of theft, less likelihood of negotiating for new jobs behind your back and leaving you in the lurch, etc, he claimed.
-
This article is from the point of view of an anthropologist who was brought in as a cultural consultant to mediate an issue of "watsa" for a corporation in the Middle East. The company prides itself on its lack of internal corruption, and in turn hired a man named Girgis who grew up in the Middle East but lived and received an education in the US. In Girgis's first year he hired one of his cousins, which the supervisors saw as corrupt hiring practice. The author, and hired consultant, explained to the company supervisors that watsa was an "investment and return" framework in Arab culture, and that there are economic parallels between Arab families and businesses, families existing as economic units. Girgis conveyed that anywhere else in the world he would run the office by the book, but in the Arab world he must also adhere to social norms. The result of watsa through Arab eyes leads to greater loyalty, and less likelihood for deception and theft. The article basically introduces the idea that while in the Western world this may be seen as corruption, it is an embedded part of culture in the Middle East.
15More
UN, Russia take lead in Syria diplomacy - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East - 0 views
-
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Egypt on Feb. 9-10 signals a “new phase” in Russian diplomacy in the Middle East.
-
Despite deteriorating ties with the United States and NATO countries over Ukraine, Maxim Suchkov writes, "Russia is anything but isolated, while Europe is no longer the promised land for the state that seeks recognition of its global influence."
-
Egypt and Russia have “shared positions on a number of regional issues; closely aligned interests (particularly on fighting international terrorism); a successful track record of bilateral cooperation on various fronts; and a strong personal bond of trust between respective leaders.”
- ...12 more annotations...
-
Egypt’s leadership has grown frustrated with US admonitions and criticisms of its governance record, and from Cairo’s perspective, bewildering discussions of conditions on US military aid
-
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is hardly ready to ditch his country’s long-standing ties to the United States, the prospect of Russian arms and assistance could prove a useful complement to what some in Cairo consider more uncertain US support, especially as Egypt faces an ongoing terrorist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula.
-
as a result of the Russian president’s visit to Cairo, the parties might agree to pool their forces in the context of a Syrian settlement.
-
It might be understandable for some analysts to dismiss the Moscow conference, given the diplomatic false starts over four years in a conflict that has left more than 150,000 dead, 7.6 million displaced, 3.2 million refugees, 12.2 million in need of humanitarian assistance and at least 680,000 injured, according to the United Nations.
-
Syrian opposition figures were not allowed to participate in the Jan. 26-29 Moscow conference as representatives of opposition parties, such as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (SOC), the leading umbrella group based in Turkey
-
The absence of the SOC and other representatives of the external opposition no doubt limited the potential impact of the conference,
-
Participants agreed to an 11-point list of “Moscow Principles” and a four-point “Appeal to the International Community” affirming the need to fight terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State (IS), rejecting outside interference and calling for increased humanitarian aid, while agreeing to meet again in a month’s time.
-
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vigorously supported the law, claiming its passage is essential in defending democracy
-
“Success tempted the AKP, prompting it to revert back to its Islamism and initiate a much more ambitious narrative of building a new regional order, and even a new global order. Meanwhile, Erdogan turned into an unquestionable leader who is not limited by facts and creates his own facts, as envisioned by his Islamist ideology and extraordinary intuition. In the eyes of his hard-core supporters, he is not a mere political leader who formulates pragmatic policies. He is a total leader who redefines everything.”
1More
Young Prince Mohammed Leads Saudi Arabia's War in Yemen - 0 views
8More
Nimmi Gowrinathan | Understanding and Combating Female Extremism | Foreign Affairs - 1 views
-
Those who ask it assume, first, that women are more peaceful than men by nature; and second, that women who participate in armed rebellion are little more than cannon fodder in a man’s game, fighting foolishly for a movement that will not benefit them.
- ...4 more annotations...
-
female Tigers cited rape, or the fear of rape, by government forces as a central reason for joining the movement.
-
This article talks about the women of ISIS and what are some factors that lead to them joining ISIS or other rebellion armies around the world. The article also speaks about how for women, gender and politics overlap in a way that is doesn't for men. Sometimes in times of conflict women have to join these group in order to survive.
1More
Coup Forces Torture to Death University Student in Egypt Police Station - Ikhwanweb - 0 views
-
In Egypt, university students have gathered together against the coup forces to protest and make clear their determination to protect their rights. University students against the coup have joined together to lead a series of protest. The article makes clear that the Students Against the coup, do not seek to instigate violence, but will use self-defense if needed which is rightly justified in accordance to religion and international law .
Ahmed Seif el-Islam, leading light of Egypt human rights, has died | World news | thegu... - 0 views
18More
Oil and Terror: ISIS and Middle East Economies - 0 views
-
Iraq has the fifth largest oil reserves in the world and third highest in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia and Iran.
- ...15 more annotations...
-
Though currently the Iraqi government has reserves and surplus funds, mounting expenditures and falling oil prices has economists to project that Iraq will run a deficit next year.
-
Thankfully, 6 of 8 Iraq’s major oil fields lie in the Shia South, which is unlikely to come under ISIS control.
-
Turkey runs a huge trade surplus with Iraq, which is likely to slow down dramatically due to lower demand from Iraq.
-
Iran’s position seems to be the trickiest of all in that its interests align with those of the US in its fight against ISIS
-
Falling oil prices have definitely curtailed Iran’s ability to intervene without serious consequences for its economy. Iran needs oil prices well above USD $100 for it to balance its budget,
-
Any cooperation between Iran and the US over ISIS could lead to a gradual withdrawal of sanctions, which would allow Iran to sell its oil on the open market and generate revenue. The flip side is that Iran’s oil would surely depress oil prices further.
-
it finds its interests are aligned with those of Iran, a traditional foe, both of which are against ISIS.
-
Russia needs oil prices near USD $100 to balance its budget and Iran needs high oil prices to support its nuclear program.
-
Regionally, ISIS will disrupt and degrade the economy of several states, and that in turn may lead to further political chaos -- which is precisely ISIS's goal.