Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, took two steps forward when he met with Israeli Armenian leaders on April 24 but one step back when he failed to characterize the 1915 massacre of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks for what it was — genocide. As …

The European Union is once again struggling to come up with a coherent asylum strategy for its 28 members. In recent years, the rising number of asylum seekers entering the European Union through countries such as Italy and Greece has generated friction among member states, fueled criticism of the …

BY NABEEL KHOURY President Barack Obama, in his interview with Tom Friedman on April 5, was at his intellectual best. He convincingly explained the framework agreement with Iran while stressing serious strategic disagreement with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamene’i. Tom Friedman, in turn, was at his diplomatic best, …

Fenella McGerty, Senior Defence Budgets Analyst, IHS Aerospace, Defence & Security – IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly Key points: France’s announcement goes even further than Germany’s plan to increase spending by EUR1.9 billion over 2015-2016. While many countries in Eastern Europe have already increased spending, we may finally be …

Zachary Keck The Buzz China has conducted the first test flight of a new, upgraded version of its J-11 fighter jet. According to Russian media outlets, which cited unnamed Chinese reports, on Wednesday the People’s Liberation Army Air Force conducted the first flight tests of its J-11D fighter …

Kyle Mizokami The Russian Army is back. Like a bear awakening from hibernation, the Russian Ground Forces are shrugging off decades of neglect with a rearmament program designed to make it once again the most powerful army in Eurasia. Russia’s ten-year armament program, scheduled to run through 2020 …

Peter Harris China has been “weaponized” in U.S. domestic politics. This is evident in the current debate over the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  For even though China is not a prospective member of the TPP, an incipient trade agreement among twelve Asia-Pacific nations, this has not stopped proponents …

Saudi Arabia is burning through foreign reserves at an unprecedented pace as the new king’s generosity toward state workers and conflict in the region further strain public finances already damaged by the slump in oil prices. The kingdom spent $36 billion of the central bank’s net foreign assets – …

By ERIC EDELMAN and TZVI KAHN n a major speech on Thursday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued what amounted to a warning of things to come. He called the U.S. account of Iranian obligations under the nuclear framework agreement “faulty, incorrect and contrary to the substance …