Posted on March 24, 2018. Tags: Ankara, Erdogan, Free Syrian Army, Kurdish, kurdistan, Kurds, NATO, President Trump, Syria, Trump, Turkey
By U.S. Department of State from United States [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Authors: Dr Simon A. Waldman is a Mercator-IPC fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center and a visiting research fellow at King’s College London. Engin Onuk is an intern at the İstanbul Policy Center and a masters student in the International Relations Department in İstanbul […]
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Posted in Middle East, Syria, Turkey, World
Posted on March 19, 2018. Tags: Africa, African Conflict, Democracy, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, Elections, Human Rights, Humanitarian, Internally Displaced Persons, Refugee, Refugee Camps, Refugees, war
The UN Under-Sectretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this week for the first time. Following meetings with internally displaced persons, Lowcock underscored that the DRC is the site of one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in the world today. A year after his term ended, Congolese […]
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Posted in Africa, Conflict, Refugees, UN, World
Posted on February 25, 2018. Tags: House of Saud, Iran, MBS, Middle East, Mohammed bin Salman, Oil, oil and, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, yemen civil war
A new country is gradually emerging from the desert terrain of Saudi Arabia. Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS as the Crown Prince is commonly known, is at the helm. At 32 years of age, Mohammed bin Salman is the youngest minister of defence in the world, and is offering an ambitious programme of economic, religious, […]
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Posted in corruption, Economic Security, Global Economy, Saudi Arabia, World
Posted on January 11, 2018. Tags: EU, Military, military support, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, ukraine conflict, United States, US
University of Nottingham (Ningbo Campus) Assistant Professor Nicholas Ross Smith argues that while arming Ukraine may be the right thing to do, it naively underestimates the geopolitical reality of Eastern Europe and could result in a far worse outcome for both Ukraine and Europe. Donald Trump’s recent decision to approve the sale of more lethal arms […]
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Posted in Europe, European Union, NATO, Russia, Ukraine Conflict, US, World
Posted on January 1, 2018. Tags: Communism, Croatia, EU, Europe, European Union, Tito, Titostalgia, Yugonostalgia, Yugoslavia, Zagreb
The decision of municipal authorities in the Croatian cities of Zagreb and Karlovac to remove former Yugoslav president Tito’s name from streets and squares has rekindled the debate over the ruler’s legacy. Here, Tony Fabijančić assesses attitudes for and against Tito, nostalgia for the former Yugoslavia (“Yugonostalgia”), and the ongoing political division between left and […]
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Posted in Europe, European Union, World
Posted on December 19, 2017. Tags: defense, European Defense Spending, France, Germany, Military, military technology, Security
Europe is currently facing a fundamental shift in its approach to armaments procurement: cooperation both between countries and manufacturers in the development and production of armaments is considered the only way forward in the coming decades. With Germany and France representing the vanguard of the European defense industry, the fate of their KANT project symbolizes […]
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Posted in Europe, France, Germany, Security Issues, Technology, World
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 November 29, 2017. Tags: Africa, Mugabe, Sanctions, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has finally toppled its longtime dictator, Robert Mugabe. So it’s time for the the international community to lift its sanctions on the country, right? Wrong. The new leader of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was one of Mugabe’s most notorious henchmen until he fell out of favor a few months ago. It would be premature to […]
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Posted in Africa, Global Economy, UN, 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 October 18, 2017. Tags: Africa, Corruption, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, economy, Elections, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Kenya, Liberia, Women's Rights
The international community has been quick to praise Liberia’s presidential elections as marking the country’s first peaceful transition of power in decades, with former football star George Weah taking an early lead in provisional results. This is indeed a remarkable feat for a country that has been ravaged by two civil wars, unexpected slumps in […]
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Posted in Africa, World
Posted on September 23, 2017. Tags: Africa, Brazil, Ebola, global health, ppps, public private partnerships, vaccines, Zika
Earlier this month, French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur announced that it was pulling the plug on its partnership with the US Army to develop two promising new Zika vaccines. A Sanofi representative said they could not continue due to, firstly, a decline in infection rates which reduced the number of people available for clinical trials, and, secondly, […]
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Posted in Africa, Latin America, World
Posted on September 20, 2017. Tags: Democracy, epistemology, identity, Islam, Philosophy, revival, Shi'a, Sunni, Terrorism, theology
I do not pretend to have a silver bullet solution to the problem of Islamic terrorism. A successful strategy against Islamic terrorist organisations would encompass a re-organisation of geopolitical alliances in the Middle East, effective military actions, and socio-economic changes (fairer distribution of resources, better education, etc.) in the majority of Muslim nations. On the […]
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Posted in Conflict, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Religion, Saudi Arabia, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
Posted on September 16, 2017. Tags: Election, Politics, Tories, United Kingdom
“You can’t trust the Tories”. It’s definitely a phrase you’ll have heard somewhere, even if it is just in the Facebook comments of some politically charged post about new government regulations or the sale of NHS property. It isn’t a new concept either, the name “the nasty party” has been around longer than I have […]
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Posted in UK News, World
Posted on September 14, 2017. Tags: British military, Human Rights, IHAT, International Criminal Court, Iraq, Iraq war, Preliminary examinations, Torture, United Kingdom, War crimes
What comes next as British Government targets lawyers and closes investigative body? By Thomas Obel Hansen This Article is based on research conducted under a British Academy grant involving interviews with relevant stakeholders. A more comprehensive academic article addressing the same topics is scheduled for publication later this year. An examination opened by the International […]
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Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Terrorism, UK News, World
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 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 August 4, 2017. Tags: Brexit, catalonia, Economics, European Central Bank, European Union, Independence Referendum, Politics, spain, Trade, United Kingdom
Image by David Tubau (Energético) One year on from the Brexit vote, Europe’s economy faces yet another monumental challenge in the shape of the Catalan independence referendum. There are doubts as to whether the referendum will go ahead; a referendum on independence was held in 2014, but after the Spanish constitutional court annulled it, the […]
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Posted in Economic Security, Economics, European Union, Global Economy, World
Posted on July 9, 2017. Tags: climate change, environment, Governance, Macron, Paris accord, Paris Agreement, U.S. Foreign Policy, United States
US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the country out of the Paris climate agreement may eventually end in a U-turn. After all, unpredictability has by far been Trump’s favourite foreign policy strategy. Yet should this one promise be kept its implications for global cooperation on climate change would be catastrophic. In the long term, […]
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Posted in Global Economy, US, 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 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