The drug trade and associated violence continues to move down from Mexico into Central America where the security situation has become dire as weak state institutions struggle to deal with an increase in violence and organized crime. As counternarcotics operations intensify in Central America, the United States expects drug traffickers to move towards the Caribbean in search of unpatrolled waters, which would have reverberating...
- Secretary of State John Kerry has nominated former Senator Russ Feingold to be the U.S. special envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes region. Feingold will oversee U.S. policy towards the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, replacing Ambassador R. Barrie Walkley. In remarks, Kerry called the region a “high-level priority” for the U.S. (NYTimes, June 18). A number of international advocacy groups called on Feingold to work for ...
A round-up of some of the top articles and news highlights from around the region over the last week:
Caucasus:
-
Georgia intends to try to buy “defensive” weapons from Israel, including drones and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, the country’s defense minister, Iraklia Alasania, has told Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv (in Hebrew, translated by BBC Monitoring). Russia had pressured Israel to cease the moderate amount of
...
In what the New York Times called “a striking repudiation of the ultraconservatives who wield power in Iran,” Iranians elected a “mild-mannered cleric,” Hassan Rouhani, as their next president. It is still unclear what impact Rouhani’s election will have on Iran’s foreign policy, both because Rouhani is not part of the reformist camp and because Iran’s...
The following is a round-up of some of the top articles and news highlights from around the region over the past week.
U.S. Policy
- Twenty-one U.S. senators sent a letter to Secretary ...
Secretary of State Kerry recently waived conditions on 1.3 billion dollars of military aid to Egypt. Despite ongoing concerns regarding Egypt’s record on human rights and democracy, Kerry’s decision overrides legislative conditions aimed at requiring political progress and upholding basic freedoms in Egypt’s democratic...