Geopolitics

Last year, Russia’s flagship economic forum in St. Petersburg, traditionally held in June, was moved forward to May to make room for a meeting of the G8 group of industrial nations in the Russian resort town of Sochi. The meeting in the host city of the 2014 Winter …

Russia is rattling its saber. China roams around the South China Sea. Here we go again. According to some, we are said to be “at war.” Thankfully, for now it is just a “war of ideas.” That is intended to offer some comfort. But even accepting this premise, …

The rupture between Russia and the West stemming from the 2014 crisis over Ukraine has wide-ranging geopolitical implications. Russia has reverted to its traditional position as a Eurasian power sitting between the East and the West, and it is tilting toward China in the face of political and …

“There are shortages of food, cooking gas, fuel and drugs…The health system is collapsing. Patients with chronic diseases cannot get their drugs, bodies are on the streets, and the city is an open dump with trash covering the streets….It is extremely important to lift the blockade on food …

The death penalty given to former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and all the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) will certainly lead to an increase in violence, hence an additional tightening of security measures in Egypt. One day after a judge issued the mass death sentence for the …

The Pentagon and US intelligence community are weighing what is referred to as an “Al-Sisi Option” for Libya, as the June 17 deadline for a United Nations-brokered cease-fire and unity government deal nears, with no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough.  The United Nations Support Mission in Libya, headed …

The fall of Palmyra just after Ramadi emphasized the impression that ISIL regained the momentum, hence will help the organization recruit more fighters. Yet, the story of the fall of Ramadi is totally different than that of the fall of Palmyra. The current ISIL offensives extends from Ramadi …

Both Iran and Turkey are racing to increase their gains in Iraq while the Arab Sunni states are trying to strengthen their ties to Iraqi Sunni tribes. In the case of Tehran, it is busy now trying to establish a larger presence in Kurdistan. For its part, Turkey’s …

If anyone speaks, however cautiously, about Syria’s existence as a sovereign state, one must admit that the line between the opposing sides—ISIL and the foreign Jihadists fighting with it on the one hand and Hezbollah, Iraqi, Pakistani and Iranian militias on the other—disappears.   ISIL, by definition, does not …