Category: Blogs

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UkraineAlert

Nov 11, 2019

Bitter harvest

By Bohdan Nahaylo

Moscow is not eager to deal in the Normandy Four format with a Ukrainian president who has turned out to be a stronger defender of Ukraine’s interests than it anticipated.

Conflict Crisis Management

SyriaSource

Nov 8, 2019

The death of Baghdadi: How ISIS used al-Qaeda’s mistakes to grow a caliphate

By Amanda E. Rogers

Optimistic predictions about the end of the Islamic State (ISIS) surged in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s October 27 press conference announcing the death of the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but prove misguided in the long term. The threat posed by ISIS remains high, particularly outside the para-state’s previously held territories in […]

Extremism Iraq

SyriaSource

Nov 7, 2019

Journalists in northeast Syria fear the return of state security services

By Dan Wilkofsky

US President Donald Trump’s decision in early October to withdraw American troops from the Syria-Turkey border put the US’s local partner in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS, Daesh), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in an unenviable position. Faced with an offensive by Turkey, NATO’s second largest military, the SDF struck a deal with […]

Conflict Media

New Atlanticist

Nov 7, 2019

We must never stop tearing down walls

By Jakub Wiśniewski

If there is one thing to learn from history it is that no accomplishment is complete or forever. There is always some wall, in literal or figurative sense, being built or rebuilt somewhere.

Central Europe Democratic Transitions

IranSource

Nov 7, 2019

Why Iran wants the Lebanon and Iraq uprisings to fade

By Sina Azodi and Giorgio Cafiero

From Iran’s perspective, the possibility of either the Iraqi prime minister being ousted, or Hezbollah being pushed further up against the wall are extremely unsettling.

Iran Iraq

MENASource

Nov 7, 2019

Saudi-backed Yemeni government and separatists sign power-sharing agreement

By MENASource

On Tuesday, November 5, the Hadi government signed a power-sharing agreement with southern separatists in Riyadh. The separatists and Hadi-led Yemen Government are backed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, specifically by the United Arab Emirates. Infighting between them further fractured the civil war in August when the separatists seized Aden from Saudi-led forces. It […]

Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Nov 7, 2019

The United States cannot repeat its Syria withdrawal mistake in Afghanistan

By Fatima Salman

President Trump’s sudden withdrawal has opened opportunities for rival powers to exert greater influence in the Middle East and in Afghanistan. Russia and China are swooping in with strategic poise, while Trump’s approach amounts to letting others “fight a little bit.” This is not US leadership, nor will it make the United States safer in an increasingly complex world.

Afghanistan Conflict

New Atlanticist

Nov 6, 2019

What the US learned from the fall of the Wall

By Jasper Gilardi

After forty years of the Iron Curtain and a divided Germany, it was clear that the US president was in no hurry to dance atop the wall and claim victory if it came at the cost of the US vision for a Europe whole and free.

Germany United States and Canada

UkraineAlert

Nov 5, 2019

What Nord Stream 2 means for Europe

By Maik Günther

The EU has enough pipelines and LNG terminals to import all the gas it needs without Nord Stream 2.

Energy Markets & Governance Geopolitics & Energy Security
Saudi Aramco oil facility

EnergySource

Nov 5, 2019

Two frameworks for understanding the Aramco IPO

By Randolph Bell

The recent announcement that the partial initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco is finally moving forward is either a cause for celebration or consternation, depending on your perspective. The divergence in views comes from the way in which market players and analysts understand the IPO and the role of Aramco in the Saudi economy.

Energy Markets & Governance Oil and Gas
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