My task for the Syria Valentine project was to figure out how to get in touch with "the Syrian Revolution."  Needless to say I was a little intimidated. Locating and connecting with activists, conveying the project's sentiments, and finding a way to get our words of support to people on the ground was challenging. A week and a half ago, I never would have dreamed we would be able to make such a human connection purely though the internet, social media and email.  But just since Amanda's blog was posted yesterday, we have received even more feedback from Syrian activists about our Valentine!  The words are so heartfelt that I just had to share it with you.  

Good news: the U.N. has taken some action on Syria-even if it's largely symbolic.

The U.N. General Assembly voted yesterday by an overwhelming margin to approve a resolution, drafted by Saudi Arabia and introduced by Egypt, which condemns violence by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and calls on Syria to end human rights violations and attacks on civilians.  The vote tally was 138 countries in favor of the resolution, 12 against, and 17 abstentions.

"Today, the U.N. General Assembly sent a clear message to the people of Syria: the world is with you," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said of the resolution. "Bashar al-Assad has never been more isolated. A rapid transition to democracy in Syria has garnered the resounding support of the international community. Change must now come."

Tomorrow may be Valentine's Day, but for those of us who care about international affairs funding (or federal funding of any kind, for that matter), today was a day which has long been almost as breathlessly anticipated: the release of the President's annual budget request for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2013.  (I know, not as delightful as Valentine's Day, but still important.)

President Obama stressed that his overall budget aims to balance many different priorities, such as spurring job growth while reigning in the deficit.  But stepping away from that bigger picture, what does the President's budget request mean for funding for international affairs in the next year?

Egyptians just celebrated the one-year anniversary of their revolution last January, but you wouldn't know it from the actions of their military. Indeed, the Egyptian military is operating business as usual, using repressive tactics to maintain an autocratic grip on power. The military has been accused by Egyptian revolutionaries of cracking down on subsequent protests, particularly last fall, when the military violently suppressed demonstrations resulting in at least 100 deaths and wounding thousands more. This extreme response to protests and demonstrations has earned the Egyptian military a reputation of opposing a real transition of power to a new democratically elected government.