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Democracy & Human Rights
Cuba
U.S. continues choking off the support lifeline for Cuba
Under unrelenting U.S. economic pressure, the Cuban economy in the first five months of 2026 has deteriorated into what many observers describe as the...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
IMEC’s Corridor of Letters
In February 2026, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones presented investors with a map titled “APSEZ rejuvenates India’s historic trade routes.” The phrase is...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Technology and the Future of Work
The role of technology in the Future of Work is not simply a matter of automation replacing human labor; it is a deeper transformation...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Social media giants found liable for child addiction: What happens next?
On March 25, a Los Angeles jury delivered a judgment poised to reshape the social media landscape for years to come. After nine intense...
Democracy & Human Rights
After Orban’s defeat, Hungary set to rechart a European trajectory
The world is becoming an increasingly tough place for incumbent leaders everywhere when coming up for re-election. Even so, the April 12 parliamentary elections...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Kazakhstan: A New Constitution for a New Era
On March 15, voters in Kazakhstan overwhelmingly endorsed a new Constitution, with 87 percent voting in favor with a turnout exceeding 73 percent. The...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
An odd couple and the diminished EU Membership as an opportunity for the Western Balkans?
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama’s latest political move brings to mind a blunt Old Testament warning: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The overlooked barrier to global economic progress
As world leaders in government, business and civil society gathered for the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (#WEF56) in Davos last...
Sanctions and related policies
New U.S. Iran sanctions for recent violent repression and corruption
After the reimposition of United Nations “snapback” sanctions on Iran on September 27, 2025, in connection with unfulfilled Iranian nuclear program control and inspection...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Moldova’s foreign policy goals for 2026: No unification, but more European integration
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in a recent media interview that she would support Moldova’s unification with Romania if the Moldovan population voted in...
The Negroni Diaries
Another Trump Iran pronouncement – tariff details to follow
In typical Trump style, U.S. President Donald Trump’s January 12 announcement of stiff new tariffs on Iran’s trading partners was devoid of almost all...
International Organizations
U.S. plans to exit dozens of international organizations
Following on U.S. President Donald Trump’s highly political decisions in early 2025 to withdraw the United States from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...
Sanctions and related policies
Venezuela: Seizures, sanctions and now a U.S. oil blockade
Amid increasing tension between the U.S. and Venezuela with new U.S. economic sanctions announced on December 11 and the U.S. military’s seizure of the...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Australia’s under-16 social media ban: A new blueprint for global digital regulation?
Australia steps first -- now the question is which governments will follow and how far they will emulate Australia’s experiment. For the first time,...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Mining in Iran: A problem that affects the oppressed Azerbaijani population
Two noteworthy events took place between late October and November. In late October, the head of the Iran Mine House, Mohammad Reza Bahraman, said,...
Libya
Ten country statement on Libya stresses potential for unification
A strong, unified Libya is in everyone’s interest. A significant number of major powers have come together to emphasize an important new opportunity for...
Climate Diplomacy
COP30 in Belém misses key targets but advances on secondary objectives
After two weeks of intense negotiations in a new geopolitical reality, COP30 concluded in the Amazon city of Belém, Brazil, where countries agreed on...
Economic Reform Strategies
Balkan Economic Forum (BEF) 2025 examines the Balkans’ key challenges
The Balkan Economic Forum (BEF) 2025 annual conference, held in Belgrade under the auspices of the Central European Initiative (CEI) and under the auspices...
Hungary
Political shifts and Orbán: future scenarios
The parliamentary elections in Hungary, scheduled for April 2026, are increasingly viewed by experts as potentially the most challenging for Viktor Orbán during his...
Terrorism
New U.S. Terrorist Designations in Europe and Latin America
As the U.S. Government shutdown has ended, a number of temporarily closed foreign affairs offices/functions have just re-opened, and we should expect to see...
Freedom of Movement and Travel
Taking a digital leap forward, the new EU Entry/Exit System progressively starts operations
The Entry/Exit System (EES), the European Union’s new digital border system which will apply to non-EU travellers entering or leaving the EU, became operational...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Fourth estate’s useful idiots: Cases from Albania in which international media should have known better
The cashless dreamThis July, a Politico Europe journalist texted me about comments regarding Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s recent statement that he would abolish...
United Nations
United States sanctions foreign NGOs engaged in ICC’s targeting of Israel
Further increasing tension between the U.S. and the UN ahead of this month’s UN General Assembly, scheduled to begin the UN's 80th anniversary celebrations...
Counternarcotics
WANTED Nicolas Maduro: U.S. increases bounty for Venezuelan President as narcotics trafficker
The United States announced on August 7 it had doubled its reward offer for the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million...
United Nations
United States to again withdraw from UNESCO
On July 22, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce announced that Washington had informed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Audrey...
Russia Sanctions
EU finally clears the roadblocks, adopts new Russia sanctions package
On July 18, the EU finally adopted its long-delayed 18th package of sanctions on Russia, focusing heavily on the oil trade, but which also...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The Israel-Iran conflict in our perspective
In the Albanian public debate on the armed conflict between Israel and Iran, a prevailing notion has been the contrast between Israel, a democracy...
United Nations
Washington orders sanctions responding to ICC actions targeting the United States and Israel
On June 5, the United States announced sanctions against four judges currently serving as International Criminal Court (ICC) judges for what it described as...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
First, Sudanese Armed Forces use chemical weapons, strikes against civilians: now cholera compounds the misery
The determination of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to crush all resistance to its imposition of hegemony over all of Sudan, which has already...
Democracy & Human Rights
U.S. – Venezuela standoff continues amid growing pressure
The standoff between the U.S. and Venezuela over a number of open issues is slowly reaching the boiling point, while Secretary of State Marco...
The Middle East
In search of jobs and treasure: Trump’s first overseas jaunt takes a distinctly commercial angle
U.S. President Donald Trump completed a four-day tour of the Middle East on May 13-16, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates....
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
From shovels to shadows: The Soviet legacy behind Georgia’s authoritarian drift
In the early hours of April 9, 1989, Soviet paratroopers launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Tbilisi, the capital of the then-Georgian...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The ruling of the EU Court on “Golden passports” and the consequences in Tirana
“Whatever the European Court decides," and “If it says it can’t be done, we won’t do it; if it says it can, we will.”This...
The Negroni Diaries
False economy: Washington will regret closing important diplomatic posts
At this point many readers will have seen press reports indicating that a large number of American embassies and consulates are being studied for...
Italy
Farewell to Pope Francis, the last champion of the left
The first political consequence of the death of Pope Francis is for sure that the left side of Italy’s political spectrum has lost its...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Zeno’s Arrow and Albania’s membership in the EU
Recently, the position of the incoming German government coalition (government) between the CDU/CSU and SPD parties regarding the enlargement of the European Union into...
Democracy & Human Rights
U.S. sanctions officials for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy
The United States has imposed new sanctions on six Hong Kong and Chinese officials to punish China for the ongoing crackdown on democracy advocates...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Does the EU really stand for its basic values in the Balkans?
The visit of the EU Enlargement Commissioner Ms. Marta Kos to Albania on March 13-14 seems to have been another failed opportunity for the...
Germany
Despite slippage, Germany’s political center appears to hold
Germany’s February 23 parliamentary elections played out largely along predicted lines, with the main question on election day being how many parties would reach...
Civil Society
EU-Central Asia Civil Society Forum enhances regional cooperation, sustainable development
Almaty, the largest city and former capital of Kazakhstan, hosted the fifth EU-Central Asia Civil Society Forum on January 28-30, focusing on digital transformation,...
Electoral Procedures and Fraud
Righteous indignation over Maduro’s inauguration unlikely to change Venezuela’s dark reality
President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela was sworn in on January 10 for his third six-year term. Promising that his third term would be one...
Interviews
Interview: The spirit of democracy is still alive in the minds of the Korean people
During the Stratcom Summit '24 in Istanbul (mid-December), South Korean Professor Giwoong Jung, based at Seoul's Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, discussed his perspectives...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Resources for the Common Good: New Taxation in Times of Crisis
Do you wonder whether the world is crumbling before your eyes? If so, you are not alone. The global human rights map is alarming:...
Democracy & Human Rights
Biden administration takes final steps to counter global corruption and human rights abuses
Announcing a global grab-bag of new sanctions, possibly some of its last, the Biden administration took major steps on December 9 by authorizing new...
Democracy & Human Rights
Georgia’s political confrontation continues at low boil
It is difficult to find anyone other than current government officials from the “Georgian Dream” party that will claim the country’s October 26 Parliamentary...
The Negroni Diaries
Dear Democrats, about that Harris coronation last summer….
Back in July, we took exception to the decisions by the leadership of the Democratic Party to anoint Kamala Harris to take over President...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Maia Sandu’s slim win: Moldova struggles between Europe and tradition
The results of Moldova’s recent presidential elections and referendum are final. President Maia Sandu won a re-election bid, while a referendum to cement the...
Democracy & Human Rights
Georgia’s democratic election dream becomes a screamer
Georgia’s October 26 Parliamentary elections did not hold up as “free and fair” even under the lightest of scrutiny. Despite the presence of a...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Strategic Partnership or Strategic Risk? France’s Deepening Ties with Qatar
It has recently marked the half-year anniversary since France and Qatar announced a strategic partnership that will see the emirate invest €10 billion into...
Democracy & Human Rights
Georgian officials sanctioned for anti-democratic actions and human rights abuses
In the continuing wave of new sanctions announcements this month against actors who are seen as undermining democracy and abusing human rights, the Biden...
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