Eurasia

The Lebanese Forces have the largest Christian bloc in parliament, but you wouldn’t know that from their policy of splendid isolation. On Sunday, Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, a Hezbollah official, denounced the continued deadlock in Lebanon over electing a new president, but offered (what he considered) a sliver of good news. …

Kurdish-led forces guarding Syria’s Islamic State prisons have been on high alert amid spreading clashes in Deir Ezzor province. Tribal backlash. The Kurdish-led alliance of Syrian militias backed by the US military to fight the Islamic State group is facing a fresh challenge to its authority in the oil-rich eastern …

Turkey tries to dial down confrontations in the eastern Mediterranean before the Greek minister’s visit as part of its push to improve relations with the West. Greek Foreign Minister Yorgo Gerapetritis will travel to Turkey on Tuesday as the historic rivals continue efforts to reset their decadeslong dispute over territorial …

Russia withdrew from the deal two months ago after claiming the West was not keeping its side of the bargain by allowing for greater Russian agricultural exports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to persuade Russia’s Vladimir Putin to return to a critical Black Sea grain deal Monday after meeting …

The Ukrainian counteroffensive of the past three months or so, starting on 4 June, has been widely discussed. In one of the most well-documented and thoughtful reviews of this counteroffensive titled ‘Bound to Lose— Ukraine’s 2023 Counteroffensive’ Prof. John J. Mearsheimer, who is R.Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political …

According to Mafia lore, notorious mob boss Albert Anastasia ordered the murder of informant Arnold Schuster in 1952 after watching an interview on television in which Schuster recounted how he had assisted police in identifying and capturing fugitive bank robber Willi ‘the Actor’ Sutton, a criminal unknown to Anastasia who …

In the face of unprecedented global polarization, the BRICS alliance has made an impressive step forward by revealing an expanded new strategy that resembles a thriving garden of variety. This strategic step entails the admission of six new members to the BRICS family. This extension, in particular, offers a compelling …

The big shiftOf course, this is the Left, but also the Right, of the good old days. The days of gentlemanly conduct and of real sportsmanship during a debate. These were the days when cultivated, curious and humble people argued passionately, but honourably. These were the days of decency, of …

Abstract: The Russian Imperial Movement has taken advantage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to further its revanchist goals of conquering the Donbas and “Novorossiya” while expanding its international footprint both politically and militarily. The Russian Imperial Movement gained useful combat experience through the participation of personnel from its paramilitary arm, …

Abstract: Starting around February 2023, a wave of Taliban operations against Islamic State Khorasan (ISK) led some observers to herald the Taliban’s “counterterrorism” capabilities and declare ISK a defeated, or at least irrelevant, organization. Across the Durand Line, however, in July 2023, ISK perpetrated one of its deadliest attacks since …