Category: Blogs

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SyriaSource

Apr 6, 2016

Demographic Change: Assad’s Guarantee for an Alawite Quasi-state

By Ghaith al-Ahmad

The Syrian regime is working to secure the Damascus areas, starting with al-Zabadani at the Lebanese borders towards Homs and the suburbs bordering al-Asi (Orontes) river, which Hezbollah has entrenched itself it. The regime is also working to strengthen its grip on the coastal cities Tartous and Latakia, which are the stronghold of the Alawite […]

Syria

UkraineAlert

Apr 6, 2016

Obama Silent on Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, While Putin Plans Shuttle Diplomacy

By Matthew J. Bryza

Absence of US Leadership May Have Consequences in Syria, Ukraine, and Beyond The United States has been conspicuously absent during the latest crisis over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK). The White House has not yet issued a statement on this unprecedented uptick in violence. US Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement released on April […]

Syria The Caucasus

IranSource

Apr 6, 2016

Spy Allegations Overshadow Rouhani Trip to Pakistan

By Fatemeh Aman

Two days after President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Pakistan on a state visit, Pakistani authorities arrested an alleged spy for India in Pakistan’s restive border province of Balochistan.

Iran

UkraineAlert

Apr 6, 2016

New Schedule for Minsk Implementation Urgently Needed

By Maksym Khylko

For several months, the Minsk peace process has been in a stalemate. Meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group and the Normandy Four have failed to make progress on the issue of elections in the Russian-occupied areas of the Donbas. The fourth provision of the Minsk II agreement envisages that local elections should be discussed “in […]

Russia Ukraine

IranSource

Apr 6, 2016

Guardian Council to Elected MP, “No Seat For you!”

By Mehrnaz Samimi

Much like the Christmas-New Year’s break in the United States, Iran’s Nowruz holiday brings a complete halt to normal activities, with most offices, all schools, and even newspapers on hiatus for two weeks.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Apr 6, 2016

Wanted: Enduring US Leadership on Nuclear Security

By Lori Esposito Murray

We stand at a historic crossroad with the end of US President Barack Obama’s fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit this past weekend. While it is clear that the progress to date of the global effort to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorists’ hands has been dependent on Obama’s determined leadership, it is not clear what […]

National Security Nuclear Nonproliferation

SyriaSource

Apr 6, 2016

Alawite Identity in Syria

By H.A. Hellyer

Earlier this month, the BBC reported that representatives of the Alawite community in Syria released a document of ‘identity’—in summation, a declaration of Alawism and its place and relevance in Syria. The role that sect plays and has played within the domain of Syrian and regional politics is tremendous, and is perhaps one of the […]

Syria
General Michail Kostarakos and General Johann Luif, March 4, 2016

Bremain vs Brexit

Apr 5, 2016

Brexit Would Make it Easier for CSDP to Expand and be ‘Harmful’ to NATO

By Sandy Johnston, European Geostrategy

CSDP has played its part in trans-Atlantic and regional security. It has not delivered on the heady rhetoric of its formative years – e.g. the 60,000 troops available at 60 days notice and sustainable for up to a year in the field.

European Union International Organizations

MENASource

Apr 5, 2016

The Regeni Case: What to Expect at the Rome Meeting

By MENASource

Egyptian investigators are heading to Rome on Wednesday to hand over evidence in the investigation into the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni. The postponement of the meeting, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has led to further criticisms of Egypt’s handling of the case by Italian officials.

Italy North Africa

New Atlanticist

Apr 5, 2016

Distract, Deceive, Destroy: Atlantic Council Report exposes Putin’s deceptions in Syria

By Ashish Kumar Sen

A new Atlantic Council report uses open-source data to link Russia to attacks on civilian facilities and the use of cluster bombs in Syria.

Conflict Disinformation
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