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Global Affairs
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Can Innovation Diplomacy End the Climate Gamble?
With today’s global challenges urging equally global responses, an overlooked subset of diplomacy emerges as potentially pivotal: innovation diplomacy, a discipline related to the...
Democracy & Human Rights
U.S. joins International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children
On March 7, the office of the spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State issued a media note, clearly meant to be circulated in...
Columns
Eyeing competitors, OPEC+ countries will keep cutting oil production
Several OPEC+ countries are extending additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day, aimed at supporting what they are labeling "the stability and...
Democracy & Human Rights
Intellexa Commercial Spyware Consortium sanctioned
The U.S. Government announced on March 5 a new set of sanctions on the members of the Intellexa Commercial Spyware Consortium based across Europe....
Democracy & Human Rights
Zimbabwe: U.S. reconfigures sanctions to focus on corruption and human rights
On March 4, three separate U.S. Government Departments/Agencies issued Zimbabwe-specific sanctions guidance, demonstrating how complex and intertwined U.S. sanctions legislation has become and how...
Russia Sanctions
Russia sanctions remain a powerful tool to support Ukraine’s defense
Western leaders should not dismiss the two-year long sanctions campaign (as opposed to the 2014 Crimea sanctions) as unsuccessful simply because the Kremlin has...
Russia Sanctions
New U.S. Russia sanctions widen scope, adding 500 new targets
The U.S. State Department released a comprehensive list of new sanctions measures on February 23, clearly the culmination of months of preparation in order...
USA
US Democrats overseas to hold primaries in early March
In an election year where most U.S. voters are already sure they will witness a Biden-Trump rematch, few voters residing abroad see the need...
Terrorism
Washington strongly condemns Houthi attacks on shipping
The U.S. State Department issued a strongly worded condemnation of Houthi attacks on international shipping on February 21st, equating many Houthi attacks with piracy.Washington...
Oil & Gas
Qatar, Kazakhstan to boost economic ties, energy projects
Qatar and Kazakhstan discussed economic cooperation between the two countries, including energy and signed a number of commercial agreements totaling almost USD 18 billion...
Disinformation & Propaganda
Kremlin disinformation efforts in Africa illuminated
The U.S. State Department released a report detailing Kremlin disinformation activities and operatives in Africa on February 12 entitled “The Kremlin’s Efforts to Spread...
United Nations
UNRWA blasted for allegations that staffers supported Hamas
The United Nations agency that manages support for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on January 26 that it is starting an investigation into several employees...
Invasion of Ukraine
Canada and aiding the democratic cause in Ukraine
Though the funding of Ukraine’s war against Russia remains the main topic of the American Congress, Ukraine’s relationship with its other key Western partners,...
Terrorism
US designates Yemen’s Houthis as terrorist organization
The Biden administration announced on January 17 that it is re-designating the Houthis, an Iranian-backed, Yemeni Shia Islamist group, as a terrorist organization. The...
IT & Telecom
The Internet of Everything and smart cities
The 10th International Symposium on Networks, Computers, and Communications was the site of many vibrant debates concerning contemporary Information Systems, Communication Networks, and Computing...
Myanmar
Myanmar’s instability deepens as the world watches silently
Myanmar’s stability has eroded significantly since the 2021 military coup. But the coordinated attacks by multiple separatist and pro-democracy groups in late 2023 has...
Columns
Record-high American LNG exports reinforce EU energy security drive
US liquefied natural gas, or LNG, exports reportedly hit monthly and annual record highs in December, positioning the United States to potentially become the...
Defense & Security
Joint Statement on the Trilateral United States-Japan-Republic of Korea Indo-Pacific Dialogue
The inaugural Trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue between the United States Japan and South Korea was held on January 5, with this new format presented as...
Democracy & Human Rights
For Turkey, the Kurds are always considered terrorists
“Hamas is a reality for Palestine. It is a political party … it entered the elections as a political party and won,” said Turkey’s...
Defense & Security
Washington strongly supports Manila in latest confrontation with Beijing
After a difficult year in the loosely defined maritime boundary region between China and the Philippines, including vessel collisions and Chinese use of water...
Africa
Why Africa must be concerned about nuclear threats in Europe
Russia's threat to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a close ally of the Kremlin, in response to Finland's membership in NATO has,...
Defense & Security
First Ukraine, now Gaza: the impact of war has set us back on climate change
Discussions of man-made global warming are usually based on a 1-degree Celsius rise since 1880 due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal,...
International Organizations
Stability in the Middle East must involve the whole of the international community
The pacifist Jeannette Rankin once famously claimed that “you can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake”. As the latest...
Africa
Africa will watch the DRC’s elections with bated interest
2023 and 2024 are going to be busy years as far as elections in Africa are concerned. About two dozen elections will occur in...
United Kingdom
Ukraine, Middle East will dominate Cameron’s UK foreign policy agenda
David Cameron, who was made Foreign Secretary in a surprise move by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his cabinet reshuffle on November 13, is...
Palestinian Territories
What will it take to prevent a Gaza reconstruction fiasco?
Let us be unequivocal about the current war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas - the latter declared this war on Israeli...
Armenia
Russia’s powerful economic levers over Armenia
Armenia's relations with its strategic partner Russia are getting worse and worse and its leaders seem to desire a shift in geopolitical orientation towards the West....
Economy & Business
New US actions against corruption and Russian malign influence in the Western Balkans
On November 16, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, known by its acronym OFAC, designated eight individuals and six...
ASEAN
Why China’s new map has stirred regional tensions
In the waning days of summer, closely following a BRICS summit and mere days ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Group...
Development Assistance
New DFC commitments to maritime infrastructure projects
The US recently announced two major commitments to funding maritime infrastructure and related commercial projects, one in Sri Lanka and another in Greece through...
Minerals, Mining and Rare Earths
IEA warns transitions bring new risks to energy security
Clean technology and critical mineral supply chains are highly geographically concentrated, the International Energy Agency warned in its World Energy Outlook for 2023 and...
Democracy & Human Rights
Young Iranians fight for a better future
Providing an opportunity for young people around the world to listen to each other and to share their understanding of the fundamental concept of...
Democracy & Human Rights
Lawmakers, NGO reps, human rights experts, Iranian dissidents condemn appointment of Iran’s envoy to UNHRC’s social forum
During a press conference held in Geneva on November 2, lawmakers, NGOs, and Iranian Dissidents condemned the appointment of Iran’s regime envoy to the...
China
Central Asian leaders travel to China to pay homage to Xi’s BRI vision
China’s leader Xi Jinping threw a 10th anniversary bash for the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), his $1-trillion plan to leverage Beijing’s financial resources...
Economy & Business
US slaps new separate sanctions on Iran, Russia and Hamas
On October 18, the US Department of State announced new separate sanctions packages against Iran and Hamas; they are not directly connected. A number...
Asia & Pacific
Ethnic violence in India explained
The ethnoreligious violence in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur between Meiteis and Kukis has been ongoing since May, but it was only in July 2023 when a...
Economy & Business
Shockwaves from the Gaza War begin impacting the global economy
In this era of globalization almost any regional crisis can be expected to trigger defensive strategies on the part of major companies and investors....
Analysis
Freedom is just another word for ‘nothin left to lose’
President Joe Biden described the events taking place in Israel as “sheer evil, abhorrent, and terrorism.” It sure is. Husbands and wives slaughtered, children...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Breaking Europe’s hold on football
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar brought together nations from around the world, and 1.5 billion people tuned in to watch the final. But...
Democracy & Human Rights
Iran protesters mark anniversary of “Bloody Friday”
Residents in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan gathered by the thousands on September 30 to stage protests marking the first anniversary of...
Israel
US announces Israel’s acceptance into the Visa Waiver Program
Israeli citizens will be allowed visa-free entry into the United States by the end of November when Israel officially becomes the 41st member of...
Democracy & Human Rights
Europe’s lawmakers see opportunity for regime change a year after Iran’s latest uprising
On September 21, representatives of various political groups held a meeting in the European Parliament to discuss the situation in Iran one year after...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
How countries prepare for population growth and decline
Early this year, India surpassed China as the most populous country in the world, with the latter having 850,000 fewer people by the end...
Disasters and Reconstruction Initiatives
US Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery announced
President Joe Biden announced on September 14 the appointment of Penny Pritzker as the US Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery.In this role, she...
Iran
Domestic operatives carried out cyberattacks on Iranian regime websites
Treadstone 71, a provider of cyber security consulting and training services, has published a new report on highly-publicized breaches of Iranian government websites and...
Armenia
With Armenia defeated tensions between Yerevan and Russia reach a turning point
Relations between Armenia and its traditional strategic partner Russia are deteriorating fast. With Yerevan's fundamental defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh - the 30-year-old Moscow-backed separatist region...
Africa
Nairobi Declaration calls for global tax on fossil fuel trade, maritime transport, aviation
As the curtains came down at the Africa Climate Summit (ACS23), heads of state and government adopted the Nairobi Declaration, calling on world leaders...
Asia & Pacific
US-ASEAN establish a research center in Washington, D.C.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was in Jakarta for a US-ASEAN Summit on September 6, announced Washington’s decision to establish a joint center with...
Analysis
What’s the end game for the military men seizing power in West Africa?
As socio-economic problems and the inefficiency of civilian governments in the region have made recent coups popular, coup makers are eventually going to become...
Africa
Private military companies continue to expand in Africa
In the wake of the July 26 coup in Niger, the world’s spotlight has once again turned to the expansion of private military and...
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