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Global Affairs
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...
Global Energy Insider
COP29: Multilateral diplomatic stalemate circumvented
COP29 in Baku ended in the early hours of November 24, reaching a compromise deal on finance that will advance the global climate agenda...
Zero Tolerance
Lula’s G20 Rio Summit: Forgettable but not inconsequential
Seen from the perspective of a week after the November 19-20 Rio de Janeiro Summit, but before the event has completely receded into the...
Russia Sanctions
U.S. sanctions Russian banks, finance officials and securities registrars
The U.S. announced on November 21 new sanctions targeting Russia’s largest remaining non-designated bank (Gazprombank), as well as dozens of other financial institutions and...
Terrorism
Washington targets Syrian conglomerate funding Iran and Houthis
On November 14 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 26 companies, individuals, and vessels associated with the...
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...
Defense & Security
Allies condemn the DPRK’s deployment of troops to Russia
The G7 countries, the EU as well as Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand on November 6 expressed "grave concern" over the deployment of...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
How French Neocolonialism converges with Iranian terrorism
France raised one billion euros "for the people of Lebanon," with a declared goal “to provide humanitarian aid." French President Emmanuel Macron even made...
Zero Tolerance
IMF pronounces victory over inflation while sounding debt and tariff warnings
The 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) took place in Washington D.C. from October 21...
Energy
EU-GCC to expand cooperation on green energy, minerals, and bringing peace to Ukraine
The EU heads of state and government and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held their first summit on October 16 in Brussels under the...
China
Drone producers in China and Russia face new U.S. sanctions
In recent months, the Biden administration’s sanctions taskmasters at the State and Treasury Departments have clearly gone into overdrive, designating new targets/entities at least...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The complex politics of Caspian gas
For the countries bordering the Caspian Sea, gas has always been a major economic resource and, in most cases, one of the biggest contributors...
Sanctions and related policies
U.S. expands sanctions on Iranian petroleum sector, targeting “ghost fleet”
In the aftermath of Iran’s unprecedented October 1 ballistic missile attack against Israel, Washington made it clear that Iran would face consequences for its...
Terrorism
Washington orders new sanctions against Hamas’ sham fundraising network
Going after key elements of the Hamas European fundraising network on the anniversary of the Gaza war, on October 7 the U.S. Treasury Department’s...
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...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Development of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions: an integrative future vision
When the issue at hand is as significant as the integration between world religions in terms of shared values and collective thinking, it is...
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