Category: Blogs

Is the International Criminal Court About to Turn Irrelevant?

By Chloë McGrath

Decisions by South Africa, Burundi, and the Gambia to leave the court raise questions about its future Near simultaneous decisions by South Africa, Burundi, and the Gambia to withdraw from the International Criminal Court have sparked fears of an exodus of African countries from The Hague-based court that is widely perceived as biased against Africans. […]

Romania and Bulgaria to Host Greater NATO Presence in the Black Sea Region

By Ana Maria Touma, Balkan Insight

NATO member state officials meeting in Brussels agreed to boost the alliance’s military presence along its entire eastern flank from Bulgaria to the Baltics.

Rebuilding the Middle East

In light of the ongoing battle for Mosul and the recent bombing of a school in Syria that killed twenty-six civilians, mostly children, it becomes evident that the actors behind the violence and turmoil must be removed from the conflict before there can be sustained efforts to achieve lasting stability in the region, a senior […]

Why Could Wallonia Block the EU-Canada Trade Deal? And What Can Be Done to Prevent a Repeat?

By Marie Kasperek

Wallonia, a small French-speaking part of Belgium with a population of just about 3.5 million, has received a lot of media attention over the past few days for its initial opposition to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a trade agreement that the European Union and Canada have been negotiating for more than seven […]

Challenges Facing the Turkish-led Offensive on al-Bab

By Haid Haid

The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced in a speech on October 22, 2016 that the Turkish-led Euphrates Shield operation would press on to the Islamic State (ISIS)-held town of al-Bab, the group’s last stronghold in Aleppo Governorate. Erdoğan’s instructions were implemented two days later when the Turkish-led coalition suspended its offensive on the town […]

Moldova at a Crossroad

By Michael Getto

Moldova will hold a historic presidential election on October 30 that could determine whether this country of less than three million tilts toward Europe or Russia. It is Moldova’s first presidential election in twenty years in which voters will get to directly decide the outcome. In March, a court ruled unconstitutional a revision of the […]

The Reality of Israel-Egypt Relations

By Moran Stern

While Israeli-Egyptian relations can be best described as “cold peace,” the security establishments in both countries have, in fact, developed impressive levels of cooperation in recent years. The outbreak of the so-called Arab Spring and the Egyptian revolution (or revolutions) that followed it have contributed to even closer relations between the states’ leaderships.

Collaboration Seen as Key in Climate Change Fight

Major geopolitical players such as China, India, the United States, and the European Union have committed to cut emissions, but it is equally important to mobilize private sector investment in this effort, Jonathan Pershing, the US special envoy for climate change, said at the Atlantic Council on October 25. “Climate change is a problem that […]

Trump Does Not Understand NATO and is a Threat to its Survival

By Miriam Valverde, PolitiFact

[Donald] Trump argued other NATO countries had to “fulfill their obligations” to receive the United States’ military aid. Asked to clarify what would happen to countries who hadn’t paid, he demurred.

Why Is Ukraine’s Political Class Trying to Roll Back Reforms?

By Josh Cohen

Since the Euromaidan revolution, Ukraine’s leaders have repeatedly committed themselves to fighting graft. Former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk promised that all corrupt officials would be prosecuted, current Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman vowed an “intolerance of corruption,” and President Petro Poroshenko campaigned as a reformer who would “wipe the country clean” of endemic graft. Despite these […]