Despite the optics of a Sino-Russian presidential summit at a time of heightened tensions with the West, the trust upon which their bilateral relationship is built remains shaky. President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin held a much-vaunted meeting in Beijing on 4 February, on the cusp of the Winter …

With the election on Feb. 10, 2022 by the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) of Misratan Fathi Bashagha as its choice to become the country’s new prime minister, Libya has entered a new, third round of two governments contesting each other’s legitimacy. A review of Bashagha’s background provides a window …

Industrial enterprises in crisis-hit Turkey have faced energy price hikes of up to 400% over a year, atop other economic blows, and many might not survive the turmoil, experts warn. Massive price hikes on electricity and other energy items have dominated Turkey’s public agenda for weeks, aggravating costs in an …

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is pressuring foreign jihadis in Idlib and giving them two choices: Leave, or integrate into the local community. Since early February, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has stepped up its crackdown against Arab and foreign jihadis opposed to it in its areas of control in Syria’s northwestern province …

Expected interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve to rein in inflation will deal further blows to Turkey’s economic turmoil. Following a January increase of 7.5% in US year-on-year consumer prices, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates in its March meeting in a bid to rein …

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that the U.S. will sell 250 M1A2 Abrams tanks to Poland, giving a key NATO ally that borders Russia a substantial boost in firepower. Adding the tanks to the Polish arsenal will ensure more equitable security burden-sharing in NATO, he said, although he noted …

Policy differences between Europe and Africa have been widening, and while there may be warm words about a new partnership when the leaders of the EU and African Union meet in Brussels, there are unlikely to be breakthroughs on key African demands. One area where Europeans and Africans have long …

The administration, however, then made an astonishing announcement: that it is unfreezing $29 billion to the Iranian regime, despite that Iran is still, according to the State Department, an officially designated state sponsor of terrorism. The move is apparently part of a US effort to appease the mullahs into redoing …

Multiple outside powers and domestic actors are pursuing their interests simultaneously through armed action on Syrian territory. The regime of President Bashar al-Assad has largely prevailed over what many regarded as a civil war in the country, but it has limited sovereignty over much of Syrian territory and most of …

While announcing on Thursday that France would withdraw its troops from Mali, President Emmanuel Macron made his strongest condemnation yet of the shadowy Russian mercenary group Wagner whose alleged arrival in West Africa has infuriated Paris. The French leader made clear that a suspected deal between the Malian military regime …