On the Importance of Messaging in Foreign Policy
July 14, 2022 6 min. read

In his famous 19th century work Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that “… a democracy is unable to regulate the details of an important undertaking, to persevere in a design, and to work out its execution in the persistence of serious obstacles. It cannot combine its measures with secrecy, and it will not […]

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‘Reality Presidency’ and New Diplomacy
December 24, 2016 8 min. read

The recent public execution of political correctness in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West had an unintended consequence: removing the curtain of hypocrisy.

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The Mubarak Retrial: Winners and Losers
December 2, 2014 6 min. read

On Nov. 29, an Egyptian court cleared charges against the country’s former president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt from 1981 to 2011, when he stepped down in the face of massive protests and the loss of his security services’ confidence.

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Tunnel Vision: How the Egyptian Army “Won” the War over Gaza
October 17, 2014 5 min. read

The Egyptians may not be receiving fulsome applause at the U.N. this week for their diplomacy to date, but quietly, Israeli, Gulf, and American leaders are clapping, in large part due to Cairo’s reaffirmation of a hardline stance against Hamas this past summer.

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Does the Shoe Still Fit? U.S.-Russia Relations
April 21, 2014 4 min. read

Over the weekend, the New York Times published an article titled “In Cold War Echo, Obama Strategy Writes Off Putin.” It caught my eye because it used the catchphrase – Cold War – that politicians as policymakers, journalists as conveyers and we as an audience have grown familiar with. Literary devices go a long way […]

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Egypt continues media crackdown, but with a new twist
February 4, 2014 2 min. read

In Egypt today there remains only one Arabic language broadcaster that has not succumbed to the pressures of the military government and condemned the newly outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Though Qatari based, Al Jazeera is one of the most influential news networks in the Middle East and was particularly praised for its coverage of the 2011 […]

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Beijing Calls for Tighter Control of Media and Education
December 27, 2013 3 min. read

The Chinese Communist Party has issued guidelines calling for tightened control of media and education in China, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua News Agency on Dec. 24. These guidelines were issued in the name of “bolstering core socialist values and pooling positive energy to realize the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.” Included […]

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Politicized Political Journalism
December 11, 2013 4 min. read

Over the years, political journalism in Russia has gradually morphed into a new definition – one that blurs the line between politicized and honest journalism. Russian journalism blotched that line even more with Monday’s presidential decree to shut down the state-funded news agency, RIA Novosti, and merged it with a news outlet called Russia Today. […]

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Egypt’s Repressive Model and Muzzling Soltan
October 4, 2013 10 min. read

  While the coup and the ensuing repressive bloody outcome was, by and large, propelled by indigenously Egyptian political dynamics, it is naïve to assume that there were no geopolitical dynamics at play. The monarchies that poured petro-dollars into Egypt to support the coup regime were nervous about the long-term effect of any democratically elected […]

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We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (2013)
June 14, 2013 3 min. read

While Julian Assange is the person with the rock star persona, Bradley Manning is the true center of this documentary. It was Manning who leaked information to WikiLeaks and who now faces trial for doing so. Army Pfc. Manning is portrayed in the film as a confused and somewhat naïve officer, a person who has […]

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