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Top of the Agenda: Egypt's Mubarak in Critical Condition; Tens of Thousands Protest in Cairo Former president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak was rushed to a military hospital yesterday (NYT) after apparently suffering a stroke in prison, and was said to be in critical condition as of Wednesday morning. The news of the longtime leader's deteriorating health--Mubarak was ousted during last year's popular, pro-democracy uprising--came as tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Cairo's Tahrir Square against the ruling military council. The ruling generals moved to consolidate their power in recent days, even as the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi appeared poised to narrowly win this past weekend's presidential runoff. Analysis "Sadly, it is not just Mubarak that is on life support at this moment--Egypt's creaky institutions and its nascent democracy are as well. Its politics are broken, its infrastructure in disrepair, its economy near collapse, its state education system in disarray, and its public health system nonexistent. If anything, this is the legacy of Hosni Mubarak: the evisceration of his beloved country," writes CFR's Steven Cook for ForeignPolicy.com.
"But the Mubarak-led regime was always much bigger than the man who sat on top of it. Its military, one of the largest in the world with half a million troops, is also one of the most autonomous, with its own direct relationship to the Pentagon and a whole mini-economy of businesses and investments. His civilian National Democratic Party weaved a vast bureaucracy and a vaster patronage network across Egypt, and his brutal secret police enforced authoritarianism across a nation of 80 million," writes the Atlantic's Max Fisher.
"SCAF clearly did not want to risk reducing the control they have over the country, and wanted even more power. The Egyptian military controls at least 30 percent of the economy and use conscripts for cheap labour. They also receive billions of dollars from the U.S. that they are not held accountable for, nor do we know what exactly they do with it," writes Hisham Wahby for Al Jazeera. PACIFIC RIM Cambodian Police Arrest Associate of Bo Xilai's Wife Cambodian police arrested a French architect (NYT) who was an associate of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai's wife, Gu Kailai, the police chief of Phnom Penh confirmed yesterday. Gu is currently being detained as a suspect in the death of British businessman Neil Heywood.
MYANMAR: Approximately ninety thousand people have been displaced (BBC) by ethnic fighting between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, the United Nations said. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Pakistan's Supreme Court Ousts PM The Pakistani Supreme Court yesterday disqualified Prime Minister
This CFR Crisis Guide provides an in-depth overview of the challenges facing Pakistan domestically and internationally.
INDIA: Indian oil companies that import crude oil from Iran are set to move ahead with a rupee payment mechanism (WSJ) that will allow them to bypass U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran, a senior industry executive confirmed today. MIDDLE EAST Russia Rejects Intervening in Syria At the conclusion of the G20 summit in Mexico yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his country's opposition to international intervention in Syria in order to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, insisting that any such move should be left to the Syrian people (NYT).
CFR's Stewart Patrick writes about the potential for Russia and the United States to forge a diplomatic agreement in Syria on his blog, The Internationalist. AFRICA Violence Escalates in Northern Nigeria Violent clashes sparked by the attacks of radical Islamist group Boko Haram in northern Nigeria have killed more than eighty people (Reuters) since Monday, Nigerian police and the Red Cross said today.
CFR's John Campbell discusses the Islamist insurgency in northern Nigeria on his blog, Africa in Transition.
RWANDA: The UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (BBC) sentenced to life in prison ex-military officer Ildephonse Nizeyimana, who was convicted of ordering the killing of former Tutsi queen Rosalie Gicanda during the 1994 Rwanda genocide. EUROPE WikiLeaks Founder Seeks Asylum at Ecuadorean Embassy in London WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought political asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy in London under the UN Declaration of Human Rights, days after the UK Supreme Court rejected his final appeal against extradition to Sweden (Guardian) over sexual assault allegations.
FRANCE: A self-proclaimed al-Qaeda militant took four people hostage (AFP) at a bank in the southwestern city of Toulouse today, police confirmed. AMERICAS British PM, Argentinean President Clash Over Falklands Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Mexico yesterday, British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to respect a sovereignty referendum the Falkland Islands will hold next year (Telegraph), while apparently refusing to accept an envelope of related documents from Kirchner.
CHILE: A Chilean appeals court yesterday ordered the government to investigate the 1976 assassination of U.S. citizen Ronni Moffitt (AP), who was an assistant to a Washington, DC-based Chilean critic of dictator Augusto Pinochet. CAMPAIGN 2012 Obama Dismisses Criticism of Foreign Policy President Obama dismissed criticism of his foreign policy and handling of the European economic crisis from GOP challenger Mitt Romney's campaign (Politico) during the G20 summit wrap-up. Obama said
Mitt Romney confirmed that Florida Senator Marco Rubio is in fact being vetted as a possible vice presidential candidate (ABC). Foreign Policy's Joshua Keating writes that Romney and Rubio's biggest differences are on foreign policy.
Editor's Note: For more information on the presidential election and foreign policy, check out CFR's campaign blog, The Candidates and the World.
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