al-Qaeda and the Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), al-Qaeda-linked groups, Boko Haram and other extremist movements are protagonists in today’s deadliest crises, complicating efforts to end them. They have exploited wars, state collapse and geopolitical upheaval in… Source: Exploiting Disorder Read More »
This article first appeared on the American Enterprise Institute site. Turkey’s authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is in Washington to participate in a conference regarding strategies to defeat the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). That’s like inviting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to a conference about fighting anti-Semitism… Source: It’s Impossible to Beat ISIS With Erdoğan in Power Read More »
Struggling to cope with the influx of Syrians, the European Union has drafted confidential plans to send 80,000 Afghan asylum seekers and refugees back to the war-torn country. Afghanistan’s Government opposes the plan, saying it cannot guarantee their safety and does not have the resources to resettle them… Source: European Union drafts plans to return 80,000 Afghan asylum seekers and refugees – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Read More »
Russia will not passively watch the US and NATO build-up in Europe and will provide an asymmetrical response, which will be highly efficient, not elaborately expensive and calibrated in accordance with Russia’s understanding of the extent of the military threat, Russian envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said on Wednesday… Source: Russia to Answer Asymmetrically to NATO Major Build–Up in Europe Read More »
Turkey’s direct support for terrorists fighting in Syria makes them President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s own army, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an exclusive interview with Sputnik, adding that his country is ready to counter the aggression… Source: Assad says ‘Erdogan’s army of terrorists’ fighting in Syria — RT News Read More »
The next president must unleash America’s diplomats. In the last year, the Obama administration began a little-noticed process that should be embraced by the next president: the downsizing of the National Security Council (NSC). On the White House blog, the National Security… Source: How the NSC Hijacked U.S. Foreign Policy | The National Interest Read More »
European demand for natural gas is likely to increase, but the future of the supply remains uncertain. Whether Russia or the European Union take the lead, whoever builds the best pipeline will secure access to the market for decades to come… Source: Ensuring the E.U.’s Natural Gas Supply · Handelsblatt Global Edition Read More »
Lord O’Donnell, the former Cabinet Secretary, warns that Britain’s withdrawal from the EU would take far longer than the two years prescribed under Article 50. Negotiating Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union would take “a very long time” and the country would be likely to walk away without any “great… Source: EU referendum: Brexit could take up to 10 years to happen, warns former top civil servant – Telegraph Read More »
On 18 March 2016, the European Union (EU) struck a controversial deal with Turkey, aiming to stem the flow of refugees fleeing across the Aegean Sea. According to the deal, any refugee arriving on the shores of Greece can now be deported back to Turkey if their claim is rejected. In order to determine the validity of refugee claims, border authorities will conduct a swift individual interview. If sent back, the EU will resettle one Syrian refugee from camps in ... Read More »
PARIS – Ever since the terrorist attacks in January on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, Parisians knew that barbarism lurked around the corner, and that it would strike again. But it is one thing to know something, to anticipate it, and another to be confronted with the grim reality. On Friday night, reality struck us with a vengeance. We are at war. It would be wrong – even dangerous – not to… Source: Europe Versus the ... Read More »
Donald Trump has made an idiotic and potentially incendiary claim about one of the world’s most flammable strategic tinder boxes. Asia has serious strategic problems. It needs serious strategic solutions. Instead, on the weekend it got the thoughts, if that’s what you can call them, of Donald Trump… Source: Careless Donald Trump is a danger to Australia and Asia Read More »
Australia’s 2016 Defense White Paper expresses concern over “friction” in the South China Sea (SCS) arising from U.S.-Chinese naval interactions, and it worries that territorial disputes have created “uncertainty and tension.” Those statements, which show Canberra (like the rest of the states in the Indo-Pacific region) is slowly coming around to the gathering threat posed […] Source: Opinion: Don’t Miss the Boat on Australian and U.S. Policy in the South China Sea – USNI News Read More »
The biggest military defeat that Isis has suffered in more than two years. The recapture of Palmyra, the Roman city of the Empress Zenobia. And we are silent. Yes, folks, the bad guys won, didn’t they? Otherwise, we would all be celebrating, wouldn’t we? Source: Why is David Cameron so silent on the recapture of Palmyra from the clutches of Isis? | Voices | The Independent Read More »
It is a truism to say there is a price to everything in the world we live in. As more and more ‘atmospheric’ noise is made by international actors (UN, EU) about the imminence of a Cyprus settlement, it is vital that we shed at least some light on the real cost of the settlement and pose the fundamental question… Such an exercise of estimating the multiple costs involved in the implementation of the three-state settlement – one Greek… Source: ... Read More »
United Nations negotiations begin today in New York on the elements of an international agreement to govern the conservation and sustainable use of the high seas. Every country will have a seat at these inaugural negotiations on conservation beyond their borders. More than half of the world’s ocean… Source: New laws for the high seas: four key issues the UN talks need to tackle Read More »
Hungary and Poland, once beacons of hope for liberal democracy in post-communist Europe, now have leaders who are determined to emulate Russian President Vladimir Putin, hollowing out independent democratic institutions and suppressing citizens’ fundamental freedoms. The question is whether the EU will follow through with sanctions… Source: The Putins of the EU by Nina L. Khrushcheva – Project Syndicate Read More »
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