on religion, the middle east and north africa have the highest scores in both regions. one of the findings is that the restrictions, government restrictions on region in the middle east and north africa, were on the rise in the years before the revolution called arab spring. we do not make a claim that the restrictions on religion coming from governments and their tightening was the cause of arab spring. it's an important part of the context to understand the forces active in the region today. as we looked at the data. and different religious groups that were impacted by the restrictions and hostilities one interesting finding in the middle east and north africa, was that muslims themselves faced harassment from government and others in society in a larger share of countries than did christians or jews. so it's often the minority faiths, the minority muslim groups in a country that are facing the problem. so it could be the sunnis in a difference majority country. one question we looked at in our data is whether or not government restrictions are self re-enforcing. do m

the fact that we all recognize that much of the muslim world and certainly the middle east and north africa is living under authoritarian regime of some sort, yet we've seen a greater tendency towards moderation represented by that movement. so here i want to address the factors that led to that. so those are my two general points. so let me begin with the first one. so the panelist titled "how repression breeds religious extremism and how religious freedom does the opposite ." here i'll speak in the context of the arab spring rather than movements at large. the premise of the question is this -- that the political context shapes how religious movements, or islamist movements behave. they're strategies, tactic, perhaps ideological orientation is malleable and determined in some way or another by the political context. so the organizers or the people who drafted this title do not take an essentialist view of these groups, they do not see them as forever bound by this hostile, fanatical ideology, but really see them as being malleable shaped by the political context. i agree and commend you f

they have a $2 billion fund for the middle east and north africa. and they are eager to spend some of this money in tunisia. we've just had a team from opic visit with a particular eye on franchising opportunities. i'm mindful of the need to keep the panel going so i will stop now and allow time for questions and answers after my colleagues give their presentations. but we do have an information sheet on tunisia, there are some at the back of the room and i have copies, and i also have the business card of our commercial attache if any one wants to get in touch with her. >> thank you, ambassador gray. i would like to turn to ambassador cap lin. >> good afternoon. it's been a great pleasure serving in morocco. morocco is a country unlike some of the other countries involved where its stability is its greatest claim to fame in the business world. when you consider all that has happened in arab spring and you realize how little the impact has been on morocco in terms of its stability, in terms of its health, it's very impressive. and i was sitting with

he's in charge of the whole western side of north africa. he's making sure everybody's trained, deals with a lot of drunken soldiers that get in his face and yells at them and he makes sure they go right off to jail. he said it was mostly air force guys that were complaining. the infantry guys kept themselves wired tight, but it was the air force guys that didn't like the discomforts of north africa that did the most complaining. if you've seen the movie "patton," there's a scene in the beginning where he gets an award from a pasha in morocco. he said the lions in their den tremble of their approach. that was actually written on the back of the medal in french. if you look at the photographs, the official army photographs, this gentleman is in them. and the photographer assumed that that was the persha of morocco. he's not. he's the grand adviser. this is the pasha's son. that was a very long-held mistake, historically, that this is the leader. i think they just assumed because he was old that he was. patton would go on fishing trips with th

state close examination of recent events in syria clearly distinguish it from the middle east and north africa for instance the capital cities of the states where the center for the people's protests and demands while in syria we see that the massacres was largely the scene of rallies supporting the regime even during the referendum the highest turnout it was in the capital moreover protests in syria began three and a half months after the protests in other countries and only along the borders they started as armed movements aimed at creating civil war and the anti regime groups were soon supplied with weapons so the protests could take their current form for these reasons we believe that the events in syria differ from those in yemen bahrain or egypt above all killing the syrian people is a red line for us and we denounce murderous operations conducted by both parties as we do confirm the necessity of meeting the demands of the people or. the head will be in what we witnessed the rise of islamic parties to power in egypt tunisia and

part of a larger geopolitical bloc unlike tunisia one is you know was very much on its own in north africa but there's syria as part of our bloc that constitutes bad. mass class. and beirut of course a guy under the tutelage after and for this reason. intervention in syria will not be targeted against the damascus regime course not against this larger bloc and hence the reason the hesitancy to intervene in syria militarily here richard what do you think of i think it's a very good point that we just heard here i mean we you know you we can all talk about a liberal intervention is helping people responsibility rick to protect all these nice things ok democracy but then when it gets down to something so geo political importance a country like syria all of it or a great deal that goes to the wayside it's just pure pragmatic geopolitics. not for everybody ok for i think for example it would be hard to explain turkey's policy toward syria if if you if i mean that unless you understood the. feeling in the scene there for us all sunni muslims being killed i think that you mean there are certainly

if i go back to you in london i mean how much is this these changes in the in the arab world in north africa and beyond i mean has to do with geopolitics because gadhafi wasn't loved by the west i mean they really embraced him but they were they had the chance they'd drop him very quickly like a hot brick and then here is the side i mean this is again it's a very international i situation right here where the countries like russia and china saw the united nations security council through the united states and its allies abuse what a lot of people say resolution one nine hundred seventy three to topple the regime i mean and we've gotten through some kind of process here where. it's we see this is an opportunity for regime change when it at one point in time it's really actually about what's happening on the ground and what people want there and what's happening in syria is extremely unclear. well there is no doubt that there are significant international geopolitical interests across the region but it varies from from one part to another if you recall in the case of tunisia initially the fren

part of a larger geopolitical bloc unlike tunisia one is you know was very much on its own in north africa but there's syria because part of our block that constant towards baghdad mask us. and beirut of course guided under the tutelage of to her own reason. intervention in syria will not be targeted against the damascus regime per se but against this larger bloc and hence the reason they hesitate and see to intervene in syria militarily ok richard what do you think about that it's a very good point that we just heard here i mean we you know you we can all talk about a liberal intervention is helping people responsibility to protect all these nice things like a democracy but then we could stand or something so geopolitically important for a country like syria or a great deal that goes to the wayside which is pure pragmatic geopolitics. not for everybody ok i think for example it would be hard to explain turkey's policy toward syria if you if. you understood the depth of feeling many turks just seen there are many muslims killed i think that i mean there are certainly different instances no

trade the family of chris mcmanus -- in north africa. the family of chris mcmanus issued a statement. hostage rescues are always risky operations, this case ended tragically. >> it has become clear that david cameron did not consult the italian authorities before he gave the go-ahead for the operation. we asked the italian senator what the italians won a to hear from mr. cameron. >> -- wanted to hear from mr. cameron. >> we are absolutely sure that he was very sorry about what happened. we just want an explanation to know why we have not been informed. with all the understanding, we are ready to give, but to understand. >> our political correspondent outlined the british government's reaction. >> there is a suggestion emerging from rome that there has been a breach of diplomatic niceties. downing street did not put in a call to rome during thursday to suggest that this was a rescue mission that should start straight away. a statement from the british prime minister's office acknowledging that the call was not made. they say that they are

influence election results some of these threats relate to changes taking place in the middle east north africa as well as the arab revolutions which were led rather peacefully and quietly by the muslim peoples and we're currently witnessing political and security changes which have come as a response to popular demand say look we could america's presence in the region and empowered resistance against zionism and against repressive regimes in a very bad situation and netanyahu is incapable of taking decisions were seriously thinking of attacking iran to this unlikely attack ever happen israel would face dire consequences they know this well and netanyahu statements reflect his fears because they are very weak now iran is much stronger than them even in the current circumstances what. what are the consequences of a possible attack by israel on iran you know. we have different retaliate every options however we're not convinced that israel has the capability to launch a military attack on iran and we see it as unrealistic any move against us would be strongly responded to and they would regret it

interested in a variety of topics that are a variety of areas studies don't think in the study north africa, they have the possibility sabean, the collection that is in multiple languages and multiple formats in multiple cultures. so does present a really different kind of vision for what a museum is all about and how it can be of service to the community. we try to think about it and in as many ways this can as we're launching an ad campaign for the reopening one of the tab once was what is it? it's a museum. >>> we think about it as a library of objects were opening a collection study room where people and scholars and students can come in and directly study objects so has a very large table where large things can be unfolded or presented and lots of storage to put boxes because nobody knows when happens behind the scenes but all of these objects have to be stored somehow into if you have an object this big in view if you think about this a tort case it would be created so we need space for all that's and one of the interesting things about what we did with this project is that we made th

commanders in the army and the chief of staff ordered him to the original combat assignment in north africae subsequent performance of p marshall's wise choice. allied planners met again in 1944, this time at quebec and a decision was made to move the invasion of the philippines three months ahead of schedule. marshall returned to fly to paris with burnes for another meeting with general eisenhower. with the vast and complicated problem of our global supply lines and chose to inspect the divisions poised for the final thrust into germany. a minor slack in the line of supply at this moment could cause a major military disaster. marshall knew all of the facts at both ends of the line. the price of victory was far too the trip to europe provided marshall with another rtuny, a with the troops. he spoke informally to american soldiers that would face the toughest test in history and triumphed. marshall inspected their positions within range of the enemy, his last close look before the axis collapsed and world war ii ended with the final capitulation of japan. he said that although millions gave

he went off to north africa with this group. it was mostly enforcing regulations, handing out speeding particular kits, arresting people and that sort of thing and bumby gets kind of antsy doing this kind of work. he gets invited to a party, a highly social event in north africa and randolph churchill, winston's son, he was a handful. he fought with him on a lot of occasions and had successfully worked his way into british special opps. he wasn't ordered. he just kind of showed up and said, i'm winston churchill. i want to be part of this. he goes off in a long-range desert group and drops into occupied yug go slauf yeah. so bumby thinks, this is a sure interesting way to spend your time during the war. i wonder if we have anything like this so if you're an mp second lieutenant and you're looking to join the intelligent situation, nobody is going to help you. one day in algeria, he goes to a camp. he makes his rounds looking to enforce various regulations and at this camp, it's kind of non-descript. the food is head and shoulder

more broadly across the region, popular forces weekend the middle east and north africa are demonstrating the potential to reorder long-standing assumptions, relationship and alliances in a way that invites risk and opportunity for the united states and our allies. arms domestic opponents pose an unprecedented challenge to the al-assad regime in syria and its collapse would have serious implications for iran, hezbollah, hamas and lebanon. turning to asia, north korea's third generation third-generation leadership transition is underway. improving the economy and regime's survival remain enduring leadership rarities. pyongyang's missile programs provide strategic deterrence, international prestige and leverage to extract economic and political concessions. while north north korea may abandon portions of its nuclear program for better relations with the united states, it is unlikely to surrender its nuclear weapons. pyongyang's position military can attack south korea with little or no strategic warning but it's a verse from logistic shortages, aging equipment and poor training. pyongyang l

north africa and the mill east which we have been reporting for a year now.>shepard: that makes sense when you put it like that. michigan accomplished. catherine, nice to see you. thank you. that is it for "studio b" on a thursday afternoon with a lot more news ahead. we are working to get the details together of this man who did the murdering in france, and he an al qaeda sympathizer? did he have training with al qaeda? and the trayvon martin case will be top of the news tonight including the stepping down temporarily of the police chief and concerns of the neighborhood watch captain who did the shooting and stocks are down. neil cavuto after commercial. [ gans ] [ marge ] psst. constipated? phillipscaplets use magnesiu an ingredient that rks more naturally with your colon than stulant laxatives, phillipscaplets use magnesiu for effective relie of constation without cramps. thanks. good morning, students. today we're gonna continue... @=h thanks. or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the enti

these are people who have accounts and look at afghanistan, pakistan, yemen, somalia, and north africa. then i take you to the national counterterrorism sector. both very rare access. you meet this new generation in the radicalization unit. and they study how it is that americans have bought into this message. chapter four is called "justice delayed." one of the uncomfortable truths i lay out in this book is that the obama administration wanted to bring the 9/11 suspects, all foreign born, to a federal court in new york city where they would have the presumption of innocence and full constitutional rights like any american citizen. yet they took an american citizen, the cleric anwar al awlaki, and they put him on a kill or capture list effectively making the government judge an executioner for one of its own citizens without any due process. and i'm the first person to say that anwar al awlaki was a you know what. he was a bad guy. i think the threshold has to be pretty high for an american citizen. they killed anwar al awlaki in september. there has never been a public accounting of t

i look forward to providing an answer on the record regarding north africa. i just returned from a visit to tunisia and algeria and morocco. i think we have an opportunity there, but i'm conscious of the risks and dangers you identified. >> thank you, madam secretary. thank you, mr. burton. mr. meeks, the ranking member on the subcommittee on europe and eurasia. >> thank you, madam chairman. madam secretary, it's always a delight to have you before us. i want to stay on behalf of all the american people what a splendid job you're doing. i have three questions. one, about our complex relationship with russia which i believe presents significant accomplishments, challenges and opportunities. our areas of disagreement are sometimes profound, coordinated action to confront efforts of life like syria or global security as in iran. notably, however, the cold war is behind us. united states and russia are no longer eyeball to eyeball with fingers posed over red buttons that would release arsenals aimed at one another. we are often elbow to elbow at conference tables

he went off to north africa with this group. it was mostly rear echelon work, so you're enforcing regulations, handing out speeding tickets, arresting people selling black market goods, that sort of thing, and bumby gets kind of antsy doing this kind of work. he figures there's has to be more to war than enforcing these kinds of regulations. so he gets invited to a party, a highly social event, in north africa at the home of a brit named duff cooper and there he meets randolph churchill. that's winston's son. he is a handful. he was a handful for winston, fought dramatically with him on a lot of occasions, and has successfully worked his way into british special ops. he wasn't invited. he didn't get a set of orders. he just kind of showed up and said, i'm winston church hill, i want to be part of this. goes off on a long range desert group and then he drops into occupied yugoslavia to work with tito and the partisans. bumby hears this story and thinks this is sure an interesting way to spend your time during the war. i wonder if

in talking with counterparts in the middle east and north africa, we often use examples from latin america. transitioning from military dictator ships, autocratic regimes to the most vibrant democratic region in the world right now. with such dynamic growth happening on both sides of the pacific, there are great opportunities and natural ourinities for our c an idea we have proven with free trade agreements that have boosted economic growth from the canadian north to the straits of magellan. of course, as we invest in these new opportunities in asia, we must also engage with the most consequence sequenceal development of the past year. the wave of change sweeping the arab world. throughout the region, our missions have responded in remarkable unprecedented ways. but then again, we've had to. it couldn't be business as usual from morocco all the way toervi there has had to really work and think outside the box. so our third priority area is helping those countries complete their transitions to democracy, and this will not be easy and it certainly will not happen overnight. i often tell lead

in this season we must encourage the highly religious countries of middle east and north africa for all religious actors. >> cook's job is to report to the president on the status in 195 countries and call out to countries in particular concern. she works under secretary of state hilary clinton. >> around the world, authoritarian regimes -- religious freedom is under threat from both quiet intolerance, and violent attacks. >> position created in the 90s by virginia congressman frank wolf. he sees that it helps identify america's friends and enemies. >> the country is generally a country that you are not at war with. you are not arguing with, not fooi fighting with. >> the arab spring has drawn more attention to religious persecution in the world. >> a change to succeed, coptic christians must have the right to worship freely just as muslims must never have their mosque destroyed. >> along with missions work overseas helps prepare her for this job. >> jennifer wishon, cbn news, washington. >>> how receiving the word of god in their native tongue is transforming lives in cameroon. >> some

funding we are providing and i'll look forward to providing an answer on the record regarding north africa, i just return friday a advise -- r returned from a visit. >> mr. meeks the ranking member on the sub committee on europe. >> always au delight to have yo before us. and on behalf of all the american people, what a splendid job you are doing. three questions. one, our complex relationship with russia which i believe presents a significant accomplishments, challenges and opportunities and our areas a o disagreements are pro found. note ably however the cold war is behind us and the united states and russia are not longer eyeball to eyeball with finger s posed over red buttons that would release arsenals against each other and we are now often elbow on elbow at conference tables. which is a good thing. can you comment on your strategy with respect to russia? you may or may not know that i'm a particularly interested in expanding trade and economic relationship with russia in the year ahead i hope it will be a good news story for the united states. secondly, turkey which continue s to be

elsewhere across the middle east and north africa, those pushing for change are confronting ruling elite, such caring ethnic and tribal divisions, lack of experience with democracies, stalled economic development, military and security forces and regional power initiatives. these are fluid political environments that offer evidence for extremists to produce a more assertive in political life. states were authoritarian leaders have been toppled such as tunisia, egypt and libya have to construct to reconstruct the political systems are complex negotiations among competing factions. and nowhere is this transition i believe more men egypt, which i think will be a bellwether and of course and so strategically important because of its size, location and of course the peace treaty that now has with israel. in syria, regime and transit social divisions are prolonging internal struggles and could potentially turn domestic upheavals and two regional crises. in yemen although the political transition is underway can the security situation continues to be marred by violence and fragmentation is a re

choose their leaders and forge their future, including the brave citizens of the middle east and north africaerve the same god-given rights and freedoms as people everywhere.anwe believe in the dignity of every human being, so we will stand united in advancing the developments that lift people and nations out of poverty. the new crops that feed a village, the care that saves a mother in child birth, the vaccine that allows a child to live a long and healthy life. this is what we believe. this is who we are. this is what we do together, what we achieve together every single day. and this is the alliance that we renew today guided by the interests we share, grounded in the values that we cherish, not just for our time but time. and finally, i would just note that while this is not the first official visit of my presidency, it is one of the few where i have not had to pause for translation. we americans and brits speak the same language most of the time, so let me just say, david, we are chuffed to bits that you are here and i'm looking forward to a great nadham. i'm confident that together we'l

they have a history of kidnapping westerners for ransom in north africa. this evening, chris mcmanus's family issued a statement. "however, we knew would never could be done was being done." bbc news. >> a very difficult rescue operation. and a note from pakistan. the three widows of osama bin laden have been been charged with illegally trying to get into the country. there were ten io custody after american commandos killed the al-qaeda leader last year. now to greece, where the country is facing another hurdle in the bailout program from the imf. creditors were given until the end of the day to decide whether or not for the restructuring of government bonds. a short time ago, i spoke to our correspondent in athens. has the creditors agreed to give up some money owed? >> you may be shocked. is this the greece you and i know and love? that seems to be the case. the government is trying to get enough bondholders. it is a huge hit on the debt. they would write off at least 100 billion euros. 10% of the private bond owners were keen to the deal. that is close