Category: Blogs

Video: Dueling NATO, Russia Naval Exercises On Black Sea

By Bug Pit and Navy Times

From Joshua Kucera, Bug Pit: Competing Black Sea naval exercises by NATO and Russia have again raised tensions in the region as the once sleepy sea has become a venue for geopolitical competition.

Top News: Kurdish Forces Take Over Two Oilfields in North Iraq

By MENASource

Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control of production facilities at two northern Iraqi oilfields on Friday, replacing Arab workers with Kurdish personnel. The national oil ministry in Baghdad condemned the takeover at the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan fields and called on the Kurds to withdraw immediately to avoid dire consequences.

The Politics Versus Economics of Subsidy Reform in MENA

By Svetlana Milbert

Subsidies, particularly on energy, are still widely used around the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, but there is growing consensus that urgent reforms are needed to address costly and distortive economic effects of energy subsidies.

And They Call Themselves Liberals

By Amr Hamzawy

Have you ever heard of ‘liberal’ parties and political movements which at times keep silent about human rights violations and freedoms and at other times justify, defend, and even revel in such violations, as long as they are committed against those whose views differ from their own? 

Russia Becoming More Unpopular Around the Globe Due to Invasion of Ukraine

By Pew Research Center

As the European Union considers further sanctions on Russia for its role in the standoff in Ukraine, Russia is broadly unpopular in many countries around the globe and increasingly disliked in Europe and the United States.

Latest news on TTIP ahead of next week’s sixth Round

TTIP and the Renaissance of Transatlanticism Read about the latest developments in TTIP a week ahead of the next round of negotiations. 

Ukraine’s War Zone: Government Claims New Advances

By James Rupert

Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council has issued a map showing what it says are its troops’ latest advances on the battlefield in the two southeastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk as of July 9, 2014 (at noon Ukrainian time).

Former NATO Military Leader Calls for Permanent Basing of NATO Troops in the Baltics

By Steven Swinford, Telegraph

[O]ne of Britain’s most senior generals said that British troops should be permanently stationed in the Baltic States as part of a Nato task force to deter an invasion by Russia.