HomeOp-Eds & Guest Contributors
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
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...
Invasion of Ukraine
Moldova’s Maia Sandu is the ‘Iron Lady’ of Eastern Europe
As the war in Ukraine passes the year-and-a-half milestone, a critical ally for Kyiv and Washington is the tiny nation of the Republic of...
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...
Economy & Business
Uzbekistan’s remarkable resurgence is a tale of growth, reform, potential
In an era characterized by global turbulence and uncertainty, there are few stories as compelling as that of Uzbekistan. A country that has weathered...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Cambodia’s Hun Manet is a puppet prime minister; his father will still pull the strings
The handing over of power by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to his son Hun Manet is an attempt to maintain the old regime,...
Energy
Turkmenistan signals major change in energy-export stance
A big shift is brewing for Caspian Basin energy exports. In a diplomatic about-face, Turkmenistan has signaled its readiness to develop a Trans-Caspian pipeline...
China
Can Central Asia escape China’s debt trap?
While Washington focuses on the war in Ukraine, Russia and China seek to expand their influence in regions where the US is not sufficiently...
Afghanistan
The global impact two years after the Taliban’s takeover
Two years ago, the world saw the return of a repressive Taliban regime. The rapid fall of the Afghan government sent shockwaves throughout neighbouring...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The Beleri case as bellwether for democracy in Albania
The standard definition of a political prisoner is: “One imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for...
Environment
The ecological collapse we were warned about has begun
In 2023, different climatic anomalies have been recorded that set new historical records in the tragic progression of climate change at the global level.
Thus,...
Energy Policy
Europe needs every clean energy tool it can get to deliver net-zero
Remaining steadfast in its commitment to addressing climate change, the European Union is in the midst of an unprecedented transformation to meet climate and...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The accidental harm-reduction champion
Sweden is set to become the world’s first officially smoke-free country. This will save lives, reduce health costs, and improve the quality of life...
Invasion of Ukraine
Working against Ukraine’s own interests
As the Ukrainian counter-offensive begins, maintaining American support is absolutely vital to Kyiv’s success. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have proven their courage, but even...
Economy & Business
Reimagining policy on the future of work
In 1986, the American pop group The Bangles had a hit with “Manic Monday”, where singer Susanna Hoffs laments the start of another working...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The fear of AI is overblown
The unprecedented popularity of ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022, has turbocharged the AI hype machine.We are...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Belgium’s prisoner swap with Iran proves the EU is unwilling to punish state sponsors of terror
An Iranian terrorist, Asadollah Assadi, is heading home from Belgium just two years into a 20-year sentence. He is the beneficiary of the Islamic...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Spain’s solution to the current high energy prices may end up costing it dearly
The announcement in mid-May by the Spanish Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, that Spain and Portugal have reached a “political agreement” with the European...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
New study finds strong public support for advanced nuclear energy
A new, multinational report released today found that there is widespread public support for using advanced nuclear energy technologies to generate electricity. Based on...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Countering online extremism online: Can New Zealand’s Ardern make the Christchurch Call live up to its potential?
On May 15, 2019, two months after the horrendous Christchurch massacre, policymakers led by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel...
Europe & Eurasia
The unfiltered truth about recent Serbia-Russia relations
Although Moscow perceives Serbia as a trading currency in the geopolitical market of great powers. Serbia believes that its destiny is not to be betrayed by beliefs, friends, allies or history.
Africa
France’s policies in Africa diminish its influence; inevitably opening the door to Russia & China
In a recent story titled "How Russia and China are trying to drive France out of Africa", what was not lost on the reader...
Africa
Africa’s porous borders promote transnational crimes rather than deeper integration
For positive continental regimes to succeed, there must be both conscious and concerted efforts, as well as political will, from all states to help eliminate transnational crimes while fostering integration across the whole of Africa through trade.
Newsletter
A plea to strengthen the Single Market
Unprecedented geopolitical disturbances call for a more united European Union, not for more trade barriers that would ultimately harm the EU's economy and its citizens.
Azerbaijan
The Iranian regime is becoming ruthlessly paranoid about ethnic Azeri demands for civil rights guarantees
Complete disregard for the well-being of Iran’s Azeri minority has sparked a wave of intense anger within the community.
Asia & Pacific
Cambodia’s current government is the face of tropical Fascism
There is no hope that the authoritarianism that the world sees in places like Russia, China and Cambodia can ever be interpreted as a peaceful and benign phenomenon, or that it should be accepted by an implicit racist or discriminatory assumption that some cultures just don’t have a democratic tradition and aren’t quite capable of ever developing one.
Georgia
Georgia has shown the world that a Kremlin project can be defeated
In early March, the world’s attention was on Georgia. We saw massive protests fueled by anger, concerns and fear, and eventually, we witnessed a...
Europe & Eurasia
Putin’s New START withdrawal has broad implications
Vladimir Putin continues to persuade Russians that the West provoked his imperialist war of aggression against Ukraine. His announcement that he would no longer...
Economy & Business
Free Trade: The magic potion against economic decline
Despite rising internal and external nationalistic pressure, leaders on both sides of the Atlantic should remember that in a time of increasing hostilities from bad actors, retaliatory protectionism toward our allies will do nothing but ensure mutual decline.
Armenia
Turkey’s seismic shift
This breakthrough in normalization between Armenia and Turkey comes amid a much wider context, well beyond the simple validation of earthquake diplomacy to elevate crisis response over conflict retention.
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Voluntary prisoners of history
By now it should have been clear to everyone that we are contemporaries of another - I would say, 'revolutionary' - transformation of humanity....
Africa
Sudan’s progress towards reform
Sudan's Forces of Freedom and Change, a wide coalition of civilian and rebel parties that opposes military rule in the country, is working with...
Democracy & Human Rights
NE Global interviews Iran’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi
Iranians have tried every other possible way to work for change, for many years. Those who thought they could reform the regime have continually been disappointed. Now they know that they have no other solution.
Invasion of Ukraine
What a difference one year makes
Ukraine’s steadfastness has shown Putin's dreams of a post-Soviet Russian Empire are pure fiction.
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The world will plunge into chaos if we don’t tax windfall profits
Over half the world’s population lives under authoritarian regimes, and movements that clearly call individual and public freedoms into question and foster xenophobia persist at the ballot box.
Energy
Is “cable diplomacy” shaping energy policy in the Mediterranean & Middle East?
The transition towards a carbon neutral economy has become a priority for many governments around the world. Using the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals...
Democracy & Human Rights
Sudan is unlawfully prolonging ex-president Al-Bashir’s trial
The 1989 coup in Sudan, known in the country as the National Salvation Revolution, is still awaiting a final decision from the Sudanese judiciary,...
Iran
Political prisoners in Iran do not bow to the absolute authority of the Supreme Leader
The legal system of the Islamic Republic is in no way compliant with the requirements of modern international laws or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
EU Institutions
Iran’s influence peddling at the European Parliament
The Iranian dictatorship is able to use the services of agents disguised as “political advisors” to serve the interests of a foreign and hostile power that is out to undermine the very core of European democracy.
EU Institutions
The end of Europe
The European Union is simply too big; it is composed of too many cultures and political perspectives; and, despite Brussels' claim that it values diversity over all other issues, this does not include a deviation from what it considers its own norms. As matters currently stand, the EU runs the risk of collapsing under its own weight.
Defense & Security
Neutral but not neutered: Ireland’s security needs to be nurtured
The Irish people have been a beacon of light against darkness, hatred and genocide. But Ireland needs to do more to contribute to the dismantling of autocracies, the self-determination of peoples still shackled by remnant empires and the emancipation and empowerment of all underprivileged people.
Europe & Eurasia
Has Armenia killed the South Caucasus peace process?
Despite the issuance elaborate diplomatic statements detailing the various policy spheres in which discussions were held, Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, publicly stated that “no concrete results” had been reached regarding a peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Iran
Ignored for too long, Europe should realize a democratic Iran is closer than ever
The unity of urban intellectuals and the more underprivileged sectors of Iranian society poses a unique challenge to the regime.
Europe & Eurasia
Poland is going its own way
The leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, continues to attack Germany, the main focus of his ire in Europe. Kaczynski...
Iran
Iran’s protests underscore the strength and viability of a democratic alternative
The mullahs are struggling to maintain their hold on power. Western nations should support the people’s will by further isolating the regime, closing Iranian embassies and halting diplomatic relations. The clerical regime may have once seemed an immovable fixture of the Middle East landscape, but this isn’t the case any longer.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s opening of an embassy in Israel is a major tectonic shift on the regional geopolitical map
With the regional geopolitical situation as it is, and amidst pressure and threats on multiple fronts, Azerbaijan has responded with a key decision to bolster relations with a key ally by formally opening an embassy in Israel.
Newsletter
How running on mainstream ideas won the day in the US midterm elections
The Democratic Party succeeded in winning the mainstream by backing candidates from the center-left and running on an agenda that made progress one of the priorities of American voters.
Newsletter
Election deniers still don’t know how democracy works
Trump Republicans, whose candidates lost, claim the results are inaccurate and illegitimate. Their criticism and demands, including calls for new elections, are based on misperceptions of how ballots are obtained, cast, and counted.
Democracy & Human Rights
We are fighting for the freedom of all Iranians. Where does Europe stand?
Western governments should recognize the Iranian people’s right to defend themselves, and they should isolate the regime completely.
Newsletter
Human pre-history experienced transformative changes that fundamentally altered our evolution
We live in a fast-moving, technology-dominated era. Happiness is fleeting, and everything is replaceable or disposable. It is understandable that people are drawn to...
Must read