Global Politics

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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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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The US military is on the cusp of a fundamental transformation in how it operates on the battlefield due, in large part, to advances in artificial intelligence (AI).   Although the use of AI by the military has drawn criticism — based mostly on concerns over robots potentially making life and death decisions — over the […]

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Who will provide strong and stable leadership on the environment? Following May’s shock election announcement there has only been one issue on the agenda for both the media and political parties themselves: Brexit. One worrying effect of our preoccupation with constitutional issues is that green politics have been ignored. Despite Green Party gains in the […]

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By Eugen Iladi It’s no secret that Russia is using military means and disinformation to try to reassemble its Soviet Union footprint. Ukraine has drawn the most headlines in this effort. But the Kremlin has long been working its land-grab plan in Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan. Russia’s economic failure and social challenges in the 21st […]

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The UK’s vote last year to leave the EU has resulted in Scotland once again re-evaluating whether or not independence would be in its best interests. The Brexit decision and the subsequent triggering of Article 50 have both generated significant political upheaval throughout the UK. In a recent speech, Nicola Sturgeon has added to that turmoil […]

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With the death of Martin McGuinness, the former Provisional IRA senior commander  turned peace-maker and Deputy First Minister, one is struck that such a transition was simultaneously, impressive and outrageous. I had the opportunity of meeting McGuinness last January when I interviewed him. I was struck by his warmth and generosity in taking time out […]

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The International Criminal Court and its perception of justice being achieved through trial, conviction and imprisonment shows a notion of retributive justice, a notion that may have limited effectiveness in the context of Uganda and the case of Dominic Ongwen. With the trial of former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Commander Dominic Ongwen currently ongoing, the […]

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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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While the West seems hell-bent on withdrawing from the global stage and focusing instead on domestic issues, recent developments in Africa point to the continent pulling in the other direction: towards concerted action and deeper integration. The firm response from the Economic Union of West African States (ECOWAS) to the Gambian president’s refusal to accept […]

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My seventeen-year-old brother doesn’t remember 9/11 – but it’s a day my country can’t forget. Nor should it. Many “millennials,” myself included, will only have vague memories of the day itself and the outpouring of patriotism that followed. Every year, we are reminded of the men and women that died so needlessly and so courageously […]

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Turkey has a history of strict censorship which still remains a prominent issue in modern day Istanbul and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Media censorship is at an all time high with 140 press censorship cases already known in the country, newspapers have been shut down and journalists imprisoned. Now censorship is spreading to the […]

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In 2012 a 30 minute documentary about a rebel leader in Uganda set the internet alight. KONY 2012 brought to the public view the gruesome activities of Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and his kidnapping of young children. While the campaign itself was short lived, the Bush and later Obama administrations had already pledged […]

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CC Image courtesy of Rareclass This piece was also published in Huffington Post on 23rd June 2016 Something we in Scotland learned the hard way in 2014 is that referendum questions are dangerous because they make both choices on the ballot paper seem equally plausible. By giving the people a choice we somehow assume that […]

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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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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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It’s official: Australia’s “Stop the Boats” campaign is a success. Or so the government claims. Back in 2013, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott ascended to his post in part because of his pledge to “stop the boats,” or, in less catchy rhetoric, to prevent asylum seekers – mostly arriving by sea from the Middle East […]

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  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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  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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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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