
The Honorable Shyam Saran, Foreign Secretary, Government of India provided the Indian government’s assessment of the July 18 Joint Statement, including its civilian nuclear energy component, and discussed India's relations with the United States in the context of both countries' common strategic interests.
The Egyptian political system has emerged sharply bipolar from recent parliamentary elections. While the ruling National Democratic Party won its expected victory, the performance of the Muslim Brotherhood surprised the NDP and the secular opposition forces. How will the Egyptian government react to the opposition’s success?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s demagoguery has triggered a strong European backlash that may produce the Western unity long lacking in negotiations with Iran. European leaders have denounced Ahmadinejad’s screeds against Israel and his denial of the Holocaust, linked them to deep suspicions of Iran’s nuclear program and begun talk of sanctions and other actions to force Iranian compliance with its treaty obligations. Ahmadinejad’s radical statements did not start EU-US collaboration, but will strengthen their partnership in support of Security Council referral. EU-Iranian negotiations, set to begin December 21, will be the first time since August of this year that the EU (led by Britain, France and Germany) will hold direct talks with the Iranians. On August 5, the Europeans gave Iran a “Framework for a Long-term Agreement,” but negotiations stalled 3 days later when Iran restarted its uranium conversion program at Isfahan.
On December 13, Michele Dunne, editor of the Arab Reform Bulletin, presented a draft of her forthcoming Carnegie paper on political reform in Egypt. A roundtable discussion followed.
Discussion of Moisés Naím's new book Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy.
Features event video and audio.


There is a real policy debate going on in Washington on how to tackle the participation and presence of Islamists forces in Egypt and elsewhere. The Muslim Brothers are positioning themselves within the growing reform camp in Egypt and they have a liberal democratic agenda when it comes to political reforms.