Unless and until a ceasefire comes into effect, the Gaza war’s destabilising impact is set to spread further across the Middle East – to say nothing about the horrifying situation inside the besieged enclave. At this point, more than seven weeks after Hamas launched its unprecedented incursion into southern Israel, …
Read More »A rocky road
Drug trafficking and corruption in central Asia Central Asia lies on the heroin trafficking route connecting supply in Afghanistan with markets in Russia and Europe. Low levels of violence related to the trade point to possible state collusion in the region with traffickers. According to the United Nations Office on …
Read More »Lebanon’s role in Syria’s Captagon trade
Syria’s degree of involvement in the synthetic drug trade is the highest in the world, but the influence of neighbouring Lebanon should not be underestimated. As the conflict in Syria has rolled on over the past decade, the country’s involvement in the synthetic drug trade has grown, and the country …
Read More »Defeated Armenia Looks to a New, Post-Russia Foreign Policy
Yerevan does not want to repeat the mistakes of the past by relying too much on a single ally. Armenia is on the brink of formulating a new foreign policy. Moscow’s silent acquiescence during September’s one-day war, in which Azerbaijan seized the long-disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting the flight of …
Read More »Russia’s Energy Clout in the Balkans Is On Borrowed Time
While Russia’s near monopoly on the oil and gas market in Southeast Europe looks secure for now, there will be less and less Russian gas and oil sold on the local market going forward, as Balkan governments and companies look elsewhere for supplies. Russia may have largely lost its sway …
Read More »Are Ukraine’s President and Chief Commander Really at War?
The dispute is not over who has done more for victory, but over who is most to blame for the fact that the turning point in Ukraine’s favor never came. As the war in Ukraine reaches the end of its second year, not a trace remains of the former unity …
Read More »Will Egypt accept Palestinians if Israel pushes them out of Gaza?
Analysts say Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi fears instability at home if Palestinian refugees cross the border. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi appears unlikely to absorb the 2.2 million Palestinians who could be displaced from the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war, experts have told Al Jazeera. “My assessment is …
Read More »What ‘tunnels’ and ‘hostages’ mean in Gaza
I grew up in Gaza where tunnels provided us with essentials Israel banned and hostages were the Palestinians it imprisoned unjustly. I spent most of my life on a strip of land not much bigger than Manhattan, surrounded by a massive razor-wire fence. Most of the time, it felt like …
Read More »ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in October 2023
Following is the October 2023 installment of “ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency,” a monthly chronicle of attacks by the terrorist group ISIS in central Syria. ISIS carried out at least 19 confirmed attacks in October in the Homs, Hama, Raqqa, and Deir Ez Zor governorates. These attacks killed at …
Read More »Dimensions entrevues du «Déluge de l’Aksa»
L’événement du «Déluge de l’Aksa» fut certes surprenant par son déclenchement. Mais il l’est plus, par les dimensions qu’il recèle. Je compte en souligner certaines, tout en les explicitant quelque peu, une à une. 1- Je commence par ce qui me semble être, de toute évidence, l’inexistence radicale et totale …
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