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TURKEYSource

Oct 12, 2021

Turkey has flipped the script on its regional isolation. But will it amount to real change?

By Karel Valansi

Over the past year, Turkey has launched efforts to normalize its strained relations with several states in the Middle East. While the countries have successfully managed to de-escalate tensions, doubts remain as to how far the efforts will lead.

Conflict Crisis Management

IranSource

Oct 12, 2021

Down the ‘Rathole’: How a rapper channels Iran regime change discourse

By Nahid Siamdoust

Both the content of Toomaj Salehi’s hard-hitting rap songs, as well as the debates they have produced, speak to a transformed Iranian media landscape.

Iran Middle East

UkraineAlert

Oct 11, 2021

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy must prove he is serious about judicial reform

By Mykhailo Zhernakov, Nestor Barchuk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's reputation as a reformer hinges on his ability to deliver on promises to transform Ukraine's discredited judiciary and achieve a breakthrough towards the rule of law in the country.

Corruption Political Reform

UkraineAlert

Oct 10, 2021

Europe’s energy crisis highlights dangers of reliance on Russia

By Aura Sabadus

Russia stands accused of exploiting the current gas crisis in Europe as part of Kremlin efforts to strengthen Moscow's position in EU energy markets and push through certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

European Union Geopolitics & Energy Security

New Atlanticist

Oct 8, 2021

When Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa appeared at the Atlantic Council

By DFRLab

Here's what she told the Council about the power of disinformation.

Civil Society Indo-Pacific

IranSource

Oct 8, 2021

Iranian war games on the border with Azerbaijan were really a message to Israel

By Abbas Qaidari

The high self-confidence of Azerbaijani authorities today, the coldness of Tehran-Yerevan ties due to Iran’s support of Baku during the Nagoro-Karabakh conflict, and the growing influence of Turkey and Israel in the Caucasus have made Iranian officials concerned about the possibility of a limited conflict in the region.

Iran Middle East

UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

Southern Ukraine’s Bessarabia is poised for a regional revival

By Andrew D’Anieri

Rural Bessarabia in southwestern Ukraine is physically isolated from the rest of the country and has often been overlooked in national politics but is now undergoing an exciting regional revival.

Economy & Business Infrastructure Protection

New Atlanticist

Oct 7, 2021

Time is running out for Abiy’s ‘new beginning’ in Ethiopia

By Cameron Hudson

Cheering crowds and soaring rhetoric cannot hide the fact that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s troubles run deeper than just one restive region.

Africa Conflict

UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2021

Ukraine seeks peace with the past

By Olesya Khromeychuk

Since becoming independent in 1991, Ukraine had been locked in relentless memory wars. Three decades on, the country may now be moving towards a new era marked by more meaningful commemoration of the troubled past.

Disinformation Resilience & Society

New Atlanticist

Oct 7, 2021

Greece and France give European strategic autonomy a shot

By Katerina Sokou

A new defense pact between the two aims to address instability in the Mediterranean by tackling multiple challenges in the region.

France Greece