Epstein Secrets

ote counts from across the country indicated that the Islamist leader was ahead of rival Ahmed Shafiq, who was the last prime minister appointed by Hosni Mubarak and was widely considered the generals' preferred candidate. Preliminary results published in the state-run Ahram Online news site showed that, wit

amed Morsi, a protégé of the Brotherhood's strongman Khayrat Elshater. If anything, this "choice" is the incarnation of the doctrine that served Mr Mubarak for three decades, "either me — an authoritarian regime backed by the military, or the Islamists". Having alienated their partners and lost substan

country, and that some in his government had sound liberalising, pro-Western instincts. Those hopes were dashed by Mr Putin's swatting aside of Mr Medvedev last September to allow his own return to the Kremlin, the rigging of elections, his crackdown on Moscow's protesters and his new Nyet posture. Th

ican political scientist, saw it as proof that democracy cannot put down roots in stony ground. A third serious setback was Egypt. The collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011, amid giant protests, raised hopes that democracy would spread in the Middle East. But the euphoria soon turned to despair. Egypt's

serious setback was Egypt. The collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011, amid giant protests, raised ho

. This leaves the option of some kind of intervention. Over the last couple of days Russia has indeed warmed up to do exactly this. Prime Minister Medvedev said on February 24 that he doubted the legitimacy of Ukraine's new authorities and that those now in power had conducted an "armed mutiny." The We

Israel. In this context, if Palestinian-Israeli violence erupts in the West Bank, there will be no firewall — the role played by former President Hosni Mubarak — to stop the flames from spreading directly to the Egyptian street. Moreover, with the rise of Islamists in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria, Isra

wall — the role played by former President Hosni Mubarak — to stop the flames from spreading directly to t

m being kindly disposed toward President Dmitry Medvedev during a security conference in Seoul. During a conversation that was caught on a hot mic, Medvedev promised to deliver Obama's kind words and intentions to Putin, the man who effectively pulls the strings at Gazprom and its media subsidiaries. B

Sawiris, won about 14 percent of the vote. The secular but hardly liberal Wafd Party, which thrived as a corrupt, sanctioned opposition party under Mubarak, won about another 10 percent. So, at a stretch, a quarter of the voters in round one went for secular parties -- and this in Cairo, Alexandria, an

hoice of prime minister, and the executive branch has full control of the country's security and defense ministries. The ruling tandem of Putin and Medvedev has made further constitutional changes to strengthen the executive's hand. In the constitution's original version, the president could serve a max

alysts tell me that if Assad goes down, the Kremlin will earn a reputation of supporting allies-something the United States lacks after letting the Mubarak regime go down quickly. The real question is whether Russia will keep the Soviet-era naval base in Tartus on Syria's Mediterranean coast. While th

n principle to sell Damascus a massive weapons package, which included war planes, short-range air-defense systems and anti-tank weapons. President Medvedev signed a formal military agreement in May 2010 expanding arms sales. In the last decade, Russia has sold well over a $1 billion in arms to Syria, i

the shift in a speech last week that her aides later said was a deliberate warning to the military council, which assumed power after President Hosni Mubarak's ouster. The military had initially pledged to hand over control to civilians by September, but it now says that a presidential election will not oc

ugh international sanctions on Iran and Syria. Obama seemed to have made friends with President Dmitry HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031959 --- PAGE BREAK --- 20 Medvedev, but relations with Russia may only get tougher, with Vladimir Putin's likely return to the Russian presidency. Arab Spring: After a slow start, the