Archive | Security Issues
Posted on December 10, 2017. Tags: 16 Days of Activism, Africa, CEDAW, Corruption, Culture, Democracy, Europe, gender, Globalization, Human Rights, Justice for Women, Middle East, Politics, She Can, UN, United Kingdom, United States, UNWomen, Violence Against Women, Women, Women's Rights, World
The television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ has gripped viewers and political pundits alike, since its release in April 2017, for its astonishingly realistic parallels between the fictional world of Gilead, and the very real Donald Trump led USA. As the global campaign for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence draws to […]
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Posted in Culture, Global Economy, Security Issues, UN, World
Posted on March 27, 2018. Tags: China, Economics, Globalization, Infrastructure, international trade, one belt one road, Politics, Security, Trade, World, Xi Jinping
In the autumn of 2013, China’s president, Xi Jinping, first introduced plans for what has become known as the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, the largest integrated international infrastructure project the country has yet undertaken. The plan consists of a land-based economic belt and a string of ports constituting a ‘maritime silk road’, stretching from […]
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Posted in Asia, China, Economic Security, Economics, Global Economy, Political Security, Security Issues
Posted on September 9, 2017. Tags: Abdüllah Öcalan, Ali Sistani, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, KRG, Kurdish, kurdistan, Kurds, Middle Eastern Christians, Muqtada Sadr, PKK, secession, Shi'a, Shiism, Shiite, Turkey
An alliance between Kurdish leftists and Iraqi militias shows why it’s dangerous to overestimate Iran’s role in the so-called “Shia crescent.” In light of the breakdown of state structures in Iraq and Syria, it’s tempting to try to build narratives that portray entire ethnic groups or sects as pawns of great powers like Iran, as […]
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Posted in Conflict, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, Turkey, World
Posted on November 4, 2017. Tags: Chile, Latin America, South America, State Terrorism, Terrorism
Mass media and politicians often describe terrorism as one of the greatest security threats to international society. These bold claims have contributed towards an unquestioned belief that terrorism has become a grave threat to our everyday lives. The sporadic and murderous nature of terrorism has been a powerful influence on public threat perception. However, the […]
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Posted in Conflict, Europe, Latin America, Security Issues, Terrorism, US, World
Posted on June 23, 2017. Tags: Deliberation, Democracy, Dialogue, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, Islamophobia, jihadi, Pluralism, radicalisation, Salafism, Terrorism
The United Kingdom has been shaken by four terror attacks in three months. Three were carried out by ISIS supporters and the latest was the result of anti-Muslim sentiments. These attacks follow a number of jihadi attacks in other European countries: France, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. The recurrence of these events (and often their low-tech […]
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Posted in Europe, Islam, Religion, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
Posted on July 1, 2017. Tags: Africa, Angola, Corruption, Coup d'état, Elections, free press, independent media, journalist arrest, Lourenco, Marques de Morais, peaceful transition of power
Rumblings are rife in Angola that something is afoot at the highest reaches of government. What may be in the offing? Everything from a top-level government shakeup to a full-fledged coup have been talked about. To keen observers of politics and conflict, it would not be surprising if people in power took sudden actions to […]
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Posted in Africa, corruption, Political Security, World
Posted on July 5, 2017. Tags: Al Jazeera, Bahrain, Doha, GCC, Iran, Middle East, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Grievances between Qatar and much of the rest of Middle East go back decades and help explain the schism that burst into the open recently and led to the widespread boycott of Qatar. Take the case of bad blood between Bahrain and Qatar. Bahrain is still angered over Qatar’s attempts to use its vast funds […]
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Posted in Conflict, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, World
Posted on August 24, 2017. Tags: Baltic States, Deterrence, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, NATO, New Cold War, Russia, Ukraine
The baltic states responding to the threat posed by a resurgent Russia is understandable, but the nature of this threat and the means to reduce it need to be re-examined. From 2014 onwards, Western commentators covering Russian aggression in the former Soviet space have repeatedly issued stark warnings of a potential threat to the Baltic […]
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Posted in Europe, Russia, Security Issues, World
Posted on January 21, 2017. Tags: Belgium, Brussels, Counterterrorism, EU, Security, Terrorism
On March 22nd 2016 the two consecutive bombings at the Brussels’ Zaventem airport and the Maalbeek metro station brought Belgian counterterrorism policy under heavy scrutiny. With the Paris attacks foreshadowing an impending threat, the Belgian security alert had been raised to critical levels since November 2015. Yet in spite of warnings from numerous countries, the […]
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Posted in Europe, European Union, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
Posted on December 31, 2015.
By Mustapha El-Khalfi – Minister of Communications, Spokesman of the Government of Morocco With difficult global headwinds and regional instability, now is the time to embrace a new era of national unity Since 2004 $1 billion has been invested in the Moroccan Sahara, which is evident in the construction of more than 150 new local […]
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Posted in Africa, Economic Security, Europe, Food Security, Global Economy, Middle East, Political Security, Security Issues, World
Posted on January 22, 2016. Tags: Daesh, Dialogue among Civilizations, Diplomacy, Hajj pilgrimage, Islam, Islamic governance, Islamic State, Khamenei, Khatami, Khomeini, Middle East, Oil, political Islam, Rouhani, Sheikh Nimr, Shi'a, Sunni, United States, Zarif
The execution of a renowned Arab Shi’a cleric, Sheikh Nimr, just after the New Year has set long-standing rivals Iran and Saudi-Arabia on a new collision course. Radical elements in Iran attacked the Saudi diplomatic compound in the country prompting Riyadh to sever its relations with Tehran. While the Iranian government condemned the attacks, immediately dismissing some officials […]
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Posted in Conflict, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Political Security, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, World
Posted on January 24, 2016. Tags: Arctic, canada, Justin Trudeau, Ocean, Putin, Russia, The West, Trade
14,000 feet beneath the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole, a Russian flag forged in titanium rests on the seabed. The flag, planted by a manned submersible during a 2007 expedition, was conceived as a publicity stunt intended to promote Russia’s territorial claims in the Arctic. The expedition was immediately rebuked […]
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Posted in Environmental Security, Global Economy, Russia, Security Issues, World
Posted on February 9, 2016. Tags: Asia, Bangladesh, Dhaka, economic development
Recent attacks by extremists have not dampened enthusiasm for future. By Mohammad Ziauddin, Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United States Bangladesh is headed in the right direction. That’s the conclusion of a new survey conducted by the respected International Republican Institute. IRI, an independent, non-partisan U.S. based organization that assists political parties to achieve good […]
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Posted in Asia, Bangladesh, Economic Security, Economics, Global Economy, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
Posted on February 16, 2016. Tags: Asia, Asia Economics, China, Cold War, Great Power Politics, India, Non-alignment policy, Post- Cold War, United States
Introduction At the time of India’s independence in 1947 the world had just witnessed the end of the Second World War and was slowly being engulfed in a new power struggle with the Cold War. The brewing trend of the time was that of alliance forming with either of the blocs led by the United States (US) […]
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Posted in China, Conflict, India, Political Security, Security Issues, US, World
Posted on February 17, 2016. Tags: Counter-terrorism, Extremism, ISIS, Islamic State, Israel, Palestinian Israeli Conflict, Palestinians, Peace Process, Terrorism, united nations
When U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggested in a recent Security Council speech that an Israeli drive to build settlements beyond its territory partly fueled Palestinian extremism, it drew ire from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “There is no justification for terror,” responded Netanyahu. “The comments of the U.N. Secretary-General encourage terror.” In the epochal ‘war […]
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Posted in Islam, Israel, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Posted on March 10, 2016. Tags: Advocacy, Architecture, children, Displaced Peoples, Homeless, Human Rights, IKEA, ISIL, ISIS, Islamic State, Lebanon, Middle East, RE:BUILD, Refugee Camps, Refugees, Shelter, Syria, UN, Urban Planning, Winter, World
I take my home for granted. There, I said it. Chances are you do, too, if your conception of home – like mine – does not include worrying about the daily dangers of a civil war playing out on your doorstep; the mortar shelling that has left your family homeless; or the stability of […]
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Posted in Conflict, Humanitarian Intervention, Iraq, Middle East, Refugees, Security Issues, Syria, World
Posted on May 7, 2016. Tags: Corruption, Law, LGBT, Politics, Putin, Repression, Russia
Vladimir Putin’s Russia has, especially in recent years, come under heavy criticism from many in the West. Much of this criticism, however, deals with Russian aggression toward Ukraine, the extrajudicial killings of critics of the Putin regime such as Alexander Litvinenko, or accusations of widespread corruption. All of these issues are clearly in violation […]
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Posted in Europe, Political Security, Russia, Security Issues, World
Posted on May 7, 2016. Tags: Barack Obama, Civil Society, Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Gulf, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, London, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, Obama, Oil, Palestinian Israeli Conflict, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, U.S. Foreign Policy
I sat down with the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.K., Minister Elizabeth Dibble, to discuss the Obama visit, the Middle East and the complex Iran-Saudi relationship. The Obama Visit to the U.K. D.M.: You touched on President Obama’s visit in your talk and what he said about the EU referendum. What for […]
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Posted in Conflict, Interviews, Iran, Israel, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Political Security, Saudi Arabia, Security Issues, Syria, US, World, Yemen
Posted on June 8, 2016. Tags: Alec Ross, Barack Obama, Business, Cyber security, Democracy, Interview, Obama, Politics, Technology, Trump, U.S., US Election, US politics, World
There are few people who can lay claim to having shaped how the world’s only superpower uses modern technology, but Alec Ross is one of those few. Having played a critical role in developing then Senator Barack Obama’s technology and innovation plan during the 2008 presidential campaign, Ross went on to serve as senior innovation advisor to […]
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Posted in Cyber Threats, Technology, US, World
Posted on May 16, 2017. Tags: Hezbollah, Iran, ISIS, Islam, Islamism, Khamenei, Sectarianism, Shi'a, Sunni, Syria, Terrorism
Critics of Iran Thus far, the Trump administration has adopted a harsher stance towards Iran than the Obama Administration. In a recent press statement, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reiterated the common statement that “Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror”. More recently in Astana, the agreement between Russia, Turkey, and Iran to create […]
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Posted in Iran, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Political Security, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism, World