On Wednesday, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced S.2058 barring companies "who engage in business or trading activity with Iran from buying oil from America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve." The "Iran Certification and Reporting Bill," co-sponsored by 16 other senators, was introduced in an attempt to "close loopholes, increase transparency, and improve effectiveness" of current sanctions. In order to take effect, the bill needs to be passed by the full Senate, incorporated with the existing legislation ...

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced S.1601, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2012 and its accompanying report.  The press release noted the committee’s difficult task of funding more with less, including “responding to the turbulent events in the Middle East and North Africa,” with a total budget of $44.64 billion, which is $6.15 billion below the President’s request.  On the Middle East and North Africa:  ...

Days after the U.S. State Department released it's annual report on terrorism and labelled Iran as the "most active sponsor of terrorism," Iran retaliated by accusing the U.S. of being the "biggest sponsor of terrorism."  Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast condemned the report findings by citing that the U.S. supports "the most active supporter of terrorism in the world," Israel. The State Department report says that by supporting groups such ...

Josh Rogin of Foreign Policy writes that Congress is starting to warm to the idea of confirming the U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford to Damascus despite the fact that some on Capitol Hill are still against the confirmation of having a U.S. ambassador to Syria.  Some on Capitol Hill are reluctant to confirm Ford since many other countries are withdrawing their envoys as a means to protest against President Bashar ...

U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said that Italy's decision to recall its ambassador from Damascus will "help increase international isolation of the bloodthirsty Syrian regime."  Ros-Lehtinen said that rather than seeking confirmation of Robert Ford's position as ambassador to Syria, the Obama Administration should "immediately implement the full range of sanctions under existing U.S. law, including by recalling our ambassador." Additionally, Ros-Lehtinen with Representative ...

The Atlantic Council and Legatum jointly produced a report which delineates five myths about Egypt's current political transformation and post-revolution future. The authors of the report argue that "ailure in Egypt could lead other countries in the region to turn away from the very idea of democratic reform." They insist that the country's newly elected parliament and president must guarantee that new jobs constantly become available for the nation's growing youth population, ...

In an article written by assistant Harvard professor Tarek Masoud, he addresses and comments on prominent issues and events leading up to Egypt's current political state. He states that the combination of a "failing regime, aging leader, and a people increasingly willing to confront both" led to the revolution that overwhelmed Egypt in January. Masoud noted the amount of restraint that Mubarak's forces used in the earlier waves of the protests, suggesting ...