Defense & Security
Afghanistan
Europe willingly forfeited a leadership role in Afghanistan
If Winston Churchill were alive today, I imagine he might have said something like “Never in the history of human conflict have so few...
Analysis
Zero tolerance for hate teaching is not negotiable
The June 2021 publication of an overdue review of Palestinian textbooks by Germany’s Georg Eckert Institute (GEI) was meant to bring peace of mind...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan 2021: An extremist ‘stammtisch’
Everybody has a favorite bar or coffee house. A place you can go to seek solace or connect with old friends. In some cases,...
Analysis
Under Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s LGBTQ community fears the worst
The recent election of Ebrahim Raisi as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has sent shockwaves through the country's LGBTQ community, with many...
Analysis
Are Turkish investors falling for Hamas’ games?
Recent reports have revealed the extent of investments and assets controlled by Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, within Turkey.
Hamas has long maintained a strong...
Afghanistan
How Erdogan will “manage” the Afghan refugee crisis
Images of Afghan refugees scrambling to escape Kabul following the Taliban’s seizure of power will haunt the international community for decades. According to the...
Afghanistan
Mikheil Saakashvili – The post-Soviet space’s once and future buffoon
It isn't every day you find yourself talking to a major figure of recent history, especially not one who has staged both a successful...
Analysis
An EU diplomatic ‘bâdgir’ in Vienna: The Iran nuclear deal 2.0
When things get hot, you look to cool them down. Persian culture is too familiar with heat with scorching Middle East temperatures. One of...
Analysis
The EU’s plans for stabilizing Libya via democratic elections alone are set to fail
The European Union has for years invested its diplomatic efforts, as well as millions of Euros, into bringing a sense of security to Libya,...
Afghanistan
An Afghan coda
Very rarely, if ever, do I ever write in the first person when offering an opinion or analysis of either a current or past...
Afghanistan
The EU is nothing but a feckless spectator in the unfolding Afghan crisis
The surprising speed by which the Taliban seized control, with relative ease, of the whole of Afghanistan is a major geopolitical debacle for the...
Afghanistan
A monster miracle from a cave
In the history of sport, there have been many unforgettable victories. True testaments of teams achieving the unthinkable. The 1980 Winter Olympics men’s hockey...
Afghanistan
Russia and China poised to gain influence in Afghanistan
Amidst the chaotic scenes that ushered in the Taliban’s take over of the Afghan capital Kabul, coupled with the West's harried exodus from the...
Afghanistan
The legacy of failure in Afghanistan starts in 1979, not 2001
A decade ago, John Lamberton Harper, a professor of US Foreign Policy and European Studies at Johns Hopkins in Bologna, Italy published an indispensable...
Afghanistan
US Balkan allies to host Afghan refugee processing operations
Even before the Taliban had completed its occupation of Kabul, American allies Albania and Kosovo told Washington that they would serve as transit countries...
Afghanistan
A viable – and perhaps the only – path to lasting peace in Afghanistan
As each day goes by, the Taliban’s forces edge closer to controlling all of Afghanistan. In the first week of August, the Taliban swept...
Analysis
The status of Crimea is far more complicated than the Western media admits
“If there were a moral to be drawn from the Crimean War which might apply to the present it would be this: in a...
Analysis
How the Austrians and their Chancellor charmed the Arabs
In late July, the Austrian capital of Vienna hosted a special guest. It was none other than the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan and the Great Powers
Can Afghanistan's never-ending internal conflict be resolved by the efforts of great and regional powers that have numerous conflicting strategic and global goals? Is...
Afghanistan
France has a generals problem: Why there’s a fray in civilian-military relations
The sensitive question of civilian control of the armed forces is one which Western democracies like the United States and France must continue to...
Archive
EU to counter cyber threats
Europe needs to be the driving force in securing infrastructure of core services against hybrid attacks, including ransomware, and work with NATO to build...
Analysis
Erdogan’s visit to the Turkish-occupied northern district of Cyprus
Whatever Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expected to come out of his visit to the occupied part of Cyprus – on the day that...
Analysis
If Europe is serious about fighting antisemitism, it must skip Durban 20
Countries are lining up to declare they will not attend the20th anniversary of the UN’s notorious 2001 World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban,...
NATO
Going Dom(e): An Israeli ticket home for Ukraine
Home is where the heart is. Since fighting in the Donbass erupted back in 2014, the residents of Mariupol have had trouble getting home,...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: No peace without a clear vision
Peace is the absence of war, while war is the absence of peace! A negotiated peace in Afghanistan presents a number of challenges. The...
Afghanistan
Making sense of the Italy-UAE rift
Earlier this month the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ordered the withdrawal of all Italian aircraft and personnel from its Al Minhad Air Force Base...
Afghanistan
From Vienna to Tripoli, the Muslim Brotherhood’s impact is felt on both sides of the Mediterranean
Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has recently undertaken a number of legislative initiatives that target Islamist groups and movements, which are active within the country,...
Afghanistan
A broken migration system
Turkey and Greece are both transit countries for migrants on their way to Germany and wealthy destinations in northern Europe. Migrants are resilient. Many...
Archive
Fighting impunity in the 21st-century
In 2006, Thomas Lubanga was the first person to be convicted as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court. For the first time...
Analysis
Denmark is leading the race against Russian hackers
‘Don’t open this e-mail from “McDonald’s”.’ The word ‘Warnings’ white against the green background, screams at me from the top of the mobile phone...
Afghanistan
Tribal truths: The wounds of the US’ Afghanistan exit
As a land heavily influenced by tribal practices, an Afghan proverb stating, “The wound of the sword will heal, but not that of the...
Archive
Open letter to European leaders on Iranian elections
Dear Josep Borrell, Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel:On Friday, June 18th, the Islamic Republic of Iran held its thirteenth presidential election since the...
Archive
Charged up EU takes on China in battery battle
BRATISLAVA - The European Union has attracted massive investment along the battery value chain, boosting its energy and raw materials independence, as the EU...
Analysis
Did Biden draw a line in the sand with or legitimize Putin in Geneva?
When President Joe Biden arrived at the historic Villa la Garange in Geneva for a much-anticipated meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, he triumphantly...
Analysis
No more lip service: The EU must be more resolute vis-à-vis Russia
The first meeting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin showed that the US is no longer letting Moscow lead it around by the nose...
Albania
EU enlargement: Cui bono?
EU enlargement: cui bono? Several Foreign Ministers from EU countries visited Tirana and the North Macedonian capital Skopje in the last weeks to meet local...
Analysis
Europe must double down on fighting antisemitism
Whenever Israel exercises its right to defend itself against terror, count on a wave of violent antisemitism to sweep across the West. Last month,...
Analysis
A fiscal pandemic on the EU’s eastern border may eventually strike at the heart of Europe
The economic crisis in the European Union that was caused by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has slowly started to subside after months...
Archive
No discounts on the EU’s fundamental values
Alexander Schallenberg has been Austria's Federal Minister for European and International Affairs in the second Sebastian Kurz government since January 2020. He previously served...
Archive
The West must find its spine
I usually take the greatest satisfaction in having been proved right, whether it's a case of 'I told you the turning to the hotel...
Analysis
Democracies must hold their companies to higher standards in China
Earlier this month, the New York Times published the findings of its multi-year investigation into how Apple has risked Chinese customers’ data and the...
Analysis
Tougher sanctions against Belarus
It was a clear act of state-sponsored terrorism. An Irish passenger plane from the Irish budget airline Ryan Air, while on its way from...
Afghanistan
Turkey: A state sponsor of terrorism?
Turkey functions like a state-sponsor of terrorism (SST), fueling Islamist extremism domestically and deploying jihadist mercenaries to Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Listing Turkey as...
Archive
Ode to the Cold War: Geopolitics is more complicated than ever
“Christ, I miss the Cold War,” hisses Judi Dench while playing the role of 'M' in the 2006 James Bond reboot, Casino Royale. Well,...
Albania
Why is the Rama government going soft on Hamas?
To date, the violations of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) debated in Tirana and Brussels were related to business issues. The SAA, the...
Albania
Ukraine’s chances to join NATO are slim to none, despite Zelensky’s claims
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict was once again back in the headlines in April when people across the world followed massive troop build-ups in and around...
Analysis
It’s hard to make friends but easy to lose them: A tale of Russia’s self-inflicted isolation
In recent years Estonia did its best to develop an engaging and pragmatic approach towards Russia. In April 2019, President Kersti Kaljulaid visited Moscow,...
Canada
Old allies, new ways: Reappraising European defense
On May 6, the European Council approved the participation of the United States, Canada and Norway in the Permanent Structured Cooperation’s (PESCO) Military Mobility...
Albania
Mid-East turmoil eclipses Greece’s latest Balkan initiatives
Greek officials found time to engage in several rounds of Balkan diplomacy this week, once again taking advantage of the presence in Greece of...
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan the Allies invested in the US’ security
After nearly twenty years of engagement in Afghanistan, the United States has now set in motion the process of pulling out all its forces...
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