Washington Shouldn’t Overhype the Threat From Moscow The Russian Ministry of Defense pulled out all the stops for its annual arms expo outside Moscow in late August. For three days, defense ministers and dignitaries from 41 countries, including from the Middle East, were treated to exhibits of cutting-edge technology, live-fire …

Britain, Greece and Turkey have all failed in their assigned roles When the Republic of Cyprus was born in 1960, she was given three “god-mothers” – Britain, Greece and Turkey – who were meant to shield and protect the new-born baby against the threats confronting a new state in its …

Der Brexit ist im Grunde eine klare Sache. Die Regeln dafür sind in jahrelanger Kleinstarbeit festgezurrt worden. Dass London nun den Streit um die Grenzen in Nordirland neu entfacht, ist völlig unverständlich und wirft sehr fundamentale Fragen auf. Sind die britischen Verhandlungsführer tatsächlich so dilettantisch und kurzsichtig oder einfach nur …

A detail in the story of Brexit, often forgotten, is Boris Johnson’s support for Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement at a third Commons vote in March 2019. Having resigned from the cabinet in protest at Mrs May’s plan, he endorsed it, not because he changed his mind about the content, but …

What happened? The parliament approved the formation of a new government led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, ending a thirteen-month period during which Lebanon was governed by caretaker authorities. Separately, Hizbollah imported fuel directly from Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. Why does it matter? The cabinet’s appointment ended an …

The analyses in this paper show that the next German government will also be a pro-European one. There are, however, various necessary changes when it comes to European integration, where the new German government could play a constructive role. Germany, the EU’s largest member state, went to the ballot box …

Despite heightened expectations, significant Chinese assistance to Afghanistan is unlikely to materialise soon. The Taliban’s takeover of Kabul on 15 August has strengthened speculation regarding a rising Chinese role in Afghanistan to replace the US-led coalition’s two-decade-long presence. The Taliban have recently called Beijing a ‘top ally’. China played its …

NATO has its problems, and the emergence of a European defence identity is an imperative. But the severing of transatlantic links is never the answer. No one has forgotten that French President Emmanuel Macron referred to NATO in 2019 as ‘brain dead’. In Brussels, there were comments on this decidedly …

Iran-backed forces in Syria said on Thursday they would respond forcefully to an Israeli strike over Syria’s Palmyra area in the province of Homs on Wednesday evening in the second such strike within a week. The Syrian defence ministry said in a statement that one soldier was killed in the …

“Recently, 2 terrorists were arrested including a Daesh (ISIS) financier.” The US-led coalition confirmed on Thursday that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out a successful anti-ISIS operation that resulted in the arrest of an ISIS financier in the notorious al-Hol camp. The official Twitter account of the US-led coalition …