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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...
Trade
Terrific or Terrible Tariffs with the Sorcerer’s Apprentice
There is a very good chance that most of you will have seen the Walt Disney’s animation film Fantasia, which came out in 1940,...
Defense & Security
United Kingdom and the Republic of Mauritius resolve the Chagos Islands issue
The United Kingdom agreed on May 22 to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after a last-minute legal challenge was thrown out...
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
What chance for peace in Sudan?
The conflict in Sudan has raged for two years, causing immense human suffering, regional instability, arms proliferation and massive displacement of the population. South...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Taking off: Qatar’s strategic rise in global aviation
For Qatar, an important development took place recently as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), approved the final phase of its own airspace, the...
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...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The Geoeconomic Repercussions of Trump’s Tariff Pause: A Balkan Perspective
On April 2, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs under the banner of “Liberation Day”—a dramatic economic maneuver that reintroduced a 10...
Global Energy Supplies
U.S.-China tariff struggle, Iran issue affect energy demand, oil prices
International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said on April 23 oil prices may decline further this year due to slow demand growth...
Sudan
On the two-year anniversary, G7 Foreign Ministers address the devastating war in Sudan
After nearly 23 months of war, on March 21, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its allies regained control of the presidential palace in...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Back to the 1970s: Flared trousers and tank tops. Is this the result of Trump’s tariff tantrums?
There are somewhere some dreadful photographs of this author wearing what we all once thought were the height of fashion and style. Generally, that...
Economy & Business
Doom, gloom or boom?
While it is an almost painful daily task to ascertain where the Trump administration is positioned on the question of tariff policy, and traders...
Sanctions and related policies
Ahead of nuclear talks, Trump administration orders new sanctions on Iran’s shadow fleet and Chinese refiners
Washington’s sanctions campaign of “maximum pressure on Iran” is intensifying, despite the start of initial discussions between the U.S. and Iran over nuclear issues...
Defense & Security
G7 condemns China’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan
In a statement issued on April 6, 2025, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
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...
Germany
Germany removes key debt brake budget limits in historic move
Rushing to arrive at a workable arrangement before the new post-election German parliament convened on March 25, Friedrich Merz’s victorious CDU/CSU bloc and the...
Sanctions and related policies
Ignoring Russia, latest Trump administration Iran sanctions increase pressure on an old enemy
On March 13, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned (“designated” in OFAC language) Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, Mohsen...
Sanctions and related policies
Swedish Foxtrot criminal network in Washington’s sanctions crosshairs
The U.S. Treasury is targeting the “Foxtrot Network,” which is one of the most notorious criminal gangs based in Sweden and has conducted shootings,...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The role of Ramadan in combating Islamophobia and promoting unity
Fasting during the month of Ramadan is less about refraining from food or drink and more to do with conducting a deep introspective assessment...
Yemen
Washington targets Houthi leaders for terrorism, Russia ties and weapons procurement
Under U.S. President Donald Trump, there is no ambivalence in Washington regarding the Houthis. Handling all of the statutory requirements required to press the...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Tashkent’s busy diplomatic agenda
In the coming months, Uzbekistan will host high-profile summits between Central Asia with the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council. As global geopolitics...
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...
Invasion of Ukraine
EU leaders in Kyiv back Ukraine, but Trump won’t blame Russia
On the three-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European leaders travelled to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and to declare their...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Tajikistan: The Battle for Middle Earth’s Resources
Tajikistan is a small land-locked country tucked away in southeast Central Asia. Its capital, Dushanbe, is almost equally distant, at approximately 4,500 kilometers, from...
Invasion of Ukraine
The dance begins: Rubio and Lavrov engage (alone) on Ukraine
Clearly working overtime to move the U.S.-Russia peace effort for Ukraine forward, both countries’ foreign ministers met on February 18 in Riyadh for the...
Trade
T is for tariffs
If the quick freeze and attempted shut down of American foreign assistance through USAID was not enough, on February 10 U.S. President Donald Trump...
Sanctions and related policies
Trump administration unleashes first sanctions on Iranian shadow fleet
On February 6, the Department of the Treasury unleashed the first wave of the new Trump administration’s economic sanctions using the tried-and-true U.S. Government/Treasury...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Tariff Trouble in Trump Town
President Trump has had many a cartoon about him as a child throwing toys and anything to hand out of the playpen. Now, of...
Economy & Business
Global reaction to Trump tariffs only reinforces his use of this tired and risky strategy
True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump disrupted global markets with a three-day surge of tariff announcements, border security negotiations and ultimately a 30-day...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The New Face of an Old Enemy: The renewed dangers of ISIS and al-Qaeda
A dangerous cocktail of indifference and complacency enabled al-Qaeda to evolve from a shadowy fringe network in the early 1990s into one of the...
USA
Donald Trump is inaugurated amidst promises of security, stability and prosperity
After storming a frigid Washington D.C. during his extended inauguration festivities on January 20, Donald J Trump, America’s 47th and 45th President, launched a...
Environment
The heat is on Trump’s fossil fuel push, climate change pushback
2024 has officially been confirmed as the warmest year on record, with global temperatures surpassing the 1.5°C threshold mentioned in the Paris Agreement, Alberto...
Russia Sanctions
The Biden administration’s parting gift to Russia: Still more sanctions
Clearly working overtime to underscore the Biden administration’s desire to inflict maximum economic pain on Moscow and its coterie of Ukraine invasion supporters outside...
Critical Infrastructure
Undeclared “open season” on energy infrastructure in Europe
Russia is claiming it has shot down nine Ukrainian drones that tried to attack the TurkStream pipeline, which carries Russian gas to Europe through...
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...
Russia Sanctions
Stringent new energy sector sanctions on Russia announced
On January 10, the U.S. Government released a massive new listing of over 200 entities and individuals involved in Russia’s energy sector for Ukraine-related...
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
Stock Market or Not Market
So, what is a market? Obviously, it is somewhere where you can buy and sell “stuff.” In a successful economy having a market to...
Critical Infrastructure
NATO and EU strengthen Baltic Sea infrastructure protection after Estlink2 undersea power cable damaged
The damage of an undersea power cable off the coast of Finland in the Baltic Sea is the latest in a series of suspected...
Interviews
After Baku, Belem COP to strengthen Paris Agreement
After the controversial agreement at COP29 in Baku, NE Global sat down with Professor Gregg Walker, a COP veteran, for a close analysis of...
Zero Tolerance
Is there any hope for a democratic and peaceful Syria?
Most observers will argue that a democratic and peaceful Syria is just a pipedream, but at least in the first weeks since Bashar-al-Assad’s rushed...
Defense & Security
United States-Japan-Philippines inaugural maritime dialogue focuses on Chinese provocations
The United States, Philippines, and Japan raised “serious concerns” over China’s repeated blocking and continuing harassment of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea...
Global Energy Supplies
OPEC+ postpones plans to increase production over supply unease
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, decided on December 5 to delay its planned...
The Negroni Diaries
Democrats and Republicans agree, the Athens embassy posting has become a sinecure
The Trump administration has just confirmed what some had suspected for several years now -- that the posting to Athens as U.S. Ambassador has...
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...
EU Institutions
Facing mounting challenges, new EU Commission takes office
Amidst global geopolitical turmoil, the European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen officially took office on December 1 with the President pledging that over...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Starvation in Sudan
Aid workers have warned that one of the worst famines in decades could be under way in Sudan, a country in the middle of...
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