Defense & Security
Analysis
The soft power of big business in a former Soviet republic
The increasing isolation of Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko’s regime on the international stage raises important questions about the future of the country’s economy. As...
Archive
Check the Czechs
With the Czech Republic having the dubious honor of hosting the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the West versus Vladimir Putin's Russia...
Ireland
The Trying Game: Why extreme caution is needed in Northern Ireland
I doubt that any of those who predicted resurgent violence in Northern Ireland is taking pleasure in being proved exactly correct as riots, fighting,...
Afghanistan
Ukraine is a test for the West and ‘Westlessness’
The G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the High Representative of...
Archive
Confrontation in Ukraine
The recent unprovoked amassing of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border has overtaken a significant event that took place a few weeks earlier when Russia...
Analysis
The “Europeanization” of Greek-Turkish relations: Why the Greeks favor Ankara’s EU membership
Harmonious relations with Greece has become an objective of Turkish diplomacy. The European Union’s policy of conditionality linking progress in EU-Turkey relations to Ankara’s...
Albania
Dialogue for mutual recognition will succeed when the EU joins the US in its Kosovo approach
After the snap parliamentary elections of February 14, Kosovo has a new government facing the EU's facilitated dialogue with Serbia for normalization of relations...
NATO
NATO accession would not be a way for the West to help Ukraine
Ukraine is directly threatened militarily from the East. There is a worry that the situation can quickly deteriorate to the levels last experienced in...
Archive
The Ides of March have brought new tensions on Ukraine’s eastern border
Since mid-March, Russia and Ukraine have both been massing troops along the borders of the Russian-annexed Crimea and the conflict zone in Ukraine's eastern...
Analysis
Keep Calm and Carry On: Ukraine needs a good relationship with the Western media more than ever
'You can't do right for doing wrong', as the old saying goes. Then there's also 'no good deed goes unpunished'. I had the first-hand experience...
Archive
EU frets, Iran plans 60% uranium enrichment after nuke site attack
The European Union said Brussels is extremely worried by Iran’s deputy foreign minister announcement that the regime in Tehran will start enriching uranium at...
Analysis
A ‘burn’ on the Ukrainian border
If you have been to Ukraine, you have surely tried 'gorilka', the national vodka-style spirit. The word 'gorilka' is derived from the verb 'gority',...
Analysis
US sanctions for Turkey’s S-400 procurement come into effect
The State Department revealed on April 5 that previously announced US sanctions on Turkey’s military-industrial sector would come into effect on April 7 with...
Armenia
How real is the Russian threat to the Baltic States?
During the events that unfolded in Georgia in 2008 and later in Ukraine in 2014, Russia has demonstrated great resolve in attaining geopolitical leverage...
Cyprus
Conditional cooperation: The EU’s ‘positive agenda’ and Turkey’s policies in the Eastern Mediterranean
Once again, relations with Turkey took center stage at the European Union’s summit meeting. ”We are ready to put more concrete proposals on the...
China
US and its allies adapt to face new challenges
Secretary of State Antony Blinken wants to revitalize the US' alliances to counter modern threats, including economic coercion, disinformation and climate change.In a speech...
Analysis
Blinken reaffirms America’s focus on rebuilding partnerships
During his March 22-25 trip to Brussels, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized repeatedly that the Biden administration will work to rebuild America’s...
Analysis
Erdogan starts a political earthquake in Turkey
Significant developments are underway in Turkey. Most ominously, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has moved...
Archive
EU set to extend Operation Irini until 2023
The European Union is set to extend its Libya arms embargo mission for two years, a senior EU official said, according to a report...
Analysis
Biden’s narrow timeline to get tough on Putin
On March 2, President Joe Biden’s administration, together with the United Kingdom and the European Union, announced new sanctions against Russia over last summer's...
Analysis
Legal case over melee during Erdogan’s 2017 DC visit moving ahead
Legal proceedings against Turkish security officers continue to move forward in Washington DC, based on actions they were seen taking against protestors in video...
Analysis
The need for Indo-EU cooperation to expand security in a new multilateral, geo-political situation
India is one of the world’s largest economies, in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity. The country is the fastest-growing large economy,...
Archive
Turkish government moves to shut down liberal pro-Kurdish party
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) plans to shut down the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the party's spokesperson said on Tuesday, state-owned...
Georgia
Understanding Georgia’s current political situation
Georgia has been facing a political crisis for more than three months, which reached its peak on February 17. A Tbilisi city court sentenced...
Analysis
The aftermath of a rare visit to Moscow that went badly wrong
People remember moments. Over the years, Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, has stressed the importance of talking to Russia. And so, against...
Analysis
Is Turkey Biden’s “ally from hell”?
Ten years ago, The Atlantic ran as its cover story a piece titled “The Ally From Hell”. The article followed the raid that killed al-Qaeda...
Armenia
Good cop, bad cop? How the US and Europe want to deal with Erdogan’s Turkey
These are not good times for Turkey’s relations with the West. European diplomats in Ankara refer to a downward spiral to describe the relationship....
Archive
Turkey launches investigation into Dutch politician Wilders over Erdogan comments
Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into remarks by Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders about Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported on Tuesday. The investigation...
Germany
Poland’s dangerous new direction
I am deeply concerned for Poland. Something is changing, and I’m afraid a country I care about deeply is moving in a very dangerous...
Albania
An advocacy for giving precedence to the EU’s Copenhagen Criteria in the Western Balkans
Among the precious little remaining friends of a quick EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans, the threat of non-friendly powers encroaching in the region...
Analysis
A new dawn for Libya brings hope for regional stability
While it may seem as though only one subject has dominated the news for the past year, and our lives came to a very...
Albania
Karl von Habsburg: Speech on the future of Europe
The following speech was given on January 11 to honor the 60th birthday of Karl von Habsburg, the head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine...
Analysis
Ukraine has lost its way
Ukraine has lost its way. Its chosen road towards transforming itself from a corrupt, post-Soviet thinking culture into a rules-based society has stalled.
Actually, it...
Archive
Biden and the EU’s fight against climate change and disinformation
President Joe Biden has made clear his foreign policy objectives for his first 100 days in office. Clear signals have been sent about a...
Albania
The EU-China investment agreement is a disaster for the West
The EU-China Comprehensive Investment Agreement that was announced in December 2020 at joint virtual press conference between Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel, Xi...
China
With Navalny’s arrest, Russia hands Biden his first test on human rights
Alexey Navalny’s arrest upon his return to Russia on Sunday has handed newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden his first challenge from the Kremlin in office.Navalny...
Albania
Montenegro’s parliament passes crucial religion law, but who’s really in charge?
The Montenegrin parliament, in a repeat vote, passed on January 20 a crucial Law on Religious Freedoms which President Milo Djukanovic refused to sign...
Africa
France looking to withdraw ‘some troops’ from Sahel anti-terror operations
France is eyeing at withdrawing some of its troops from the Sahel region in Africa, following successes against Islamist militants and support by European...
Archive
Turkish FM Cavusoglu to visit Brussels for talks with EU, NATO
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is set to pay a two-day visit in Brussels on Wednesday, to hold meetings with EU officials and with...
Africa
Potential head of presidential council looks fit to pull Libya out of quagmire
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL)-brokered Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) has so far failed to bring the light at the end...
Africa
NATO voices concerns over Russian military presence in MENA region
Russia's increasing military presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a matter of "great concern" for NATO, its Secretary-General Jens...
Albania
Albania’s Rama cautiously balancing between Erdogan and Mitsotakis
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on January 7, and made a hastily arranged “private” stop,...
Archive
US plans to designate Yemen’s Houthi movement as foreign terrorist group
The United States plans to designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization, secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.The decision...
Archive
Stunned world reacts to Capitol Hill disruptions
Even though the January 6 disruptions in Washington that resulted in five deaths are seen to fall exclusively in the domain of the term...
Archive
French soldiers killed during anti-terror operations in Mali
Two French soldiers were killed on Saturday in Mali’s Menaka region when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, president Emmanuel Macron’s office said...
Analysis
Washington delivers a holiday sanctions snowball to Ankara and Moscow
Although already well understood by Moscow’s elite, tens of millions of Turkish citizens learned on December 14 what the American acronym CAATSA means --...
Analysis
Secretary Pompeo lets Turkey know what Washington really thinks
In an exchange that warmed the hearts of all Greeks and Greek Cypriots everywhere and was reported as front-page news, US Secretary of State...
Albania
The Hague to assist Albania and Greece resolve maritime border
In an ironic twist of historical events, Albania and Greece jointly announced October 20 that they were requesting assistance from the International Court of...
Energy
Pompeo's Greece visit underlines Turkey’s isolation
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Greece on September 28-30 with the objective of making it clear to Turkey that the Trump Administration...
Albania
Short Greece vacation for two Balkan leaders
Taking the opportunity to visit Athens in conference speaker mode, the leaders of Albania and North Macedonia paid stealthy visits to Athens September 15-16...
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