Eurasia

US strikes knocked off the jihadist group’s second-highest Syrian commander and a smuggler believed to have helped kidnap and behead Kurdish officials. American military forces in Syria killed three top Islamic State officials in two separate operations over the past 24 hours, US officials said. The Islamic State’s deputy commander …

Sudanese use old precedents, new methods and youth’s energy to keep demanding civilian rule. Three and a half years after Sudan’s military deposed the authoritarian ruler, Omar Bashir, in response to massive protests, the current military leadership and divisions among political factions are stalling a return to elected civilian government. …

Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party has taken steps to assert more influence over the international legal system and to shape the global legal environment to better serve its political and economic objectives. This report examines the potential ramifications of China’s assertive use of new legal …

China’s leader is on the offensive, pushing an alternative to the Western-led security order. What does it mean for U.S.-China relations? Earlier this month Chinese leader Xi Jinping made his first foreign trip since the coronavirus outbreak, joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The summit was …

As Russia suffers successive defeats, Putin may be seeking to precipitate a Cuban missile crisis moment to pave the way toward an exit from the war. Vladimir Putin is under increased pressure as Russia continues to lose ground inside Ukraine. Faced with the prospect of stark losses — potentially leaving …

Moroccan and Spanish police have dismantled a jihadist cell suspected of links to the Islamic State group, officials said Tuesday. The operation led to the arrest of 11 people in raids on Tuesday morning: nine in the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Morocco’s northern coast, and another two in the …

A satire show broadcast on Sweden’s state TV has cast clouds over a new round of Turkey-Sweden talks on NATO’s Nordic enlargement. The talks between Turkey and Sweden over Stockholm’s bid to join NATO appear to have yielded little signs of progress as Ankara summoned the Swedish ambassador in Ankara …

Iraq’s oil reduction per the recent OPEC+ agreement will not affect the country’s revenues, according to Iraq’s oil minister. During the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, which was held Oct. 5 at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria, the 23 member states decided to decrease oil production. According to …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed treaties to begin the formal (and illegal) annexation of occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions—an area nearly the same size as Hungary. The move comes just days after staged “referendums” held at gunpoint in which the Kremlin claimed a significant …

Intelligence is all about decisions: How to allocate limited personnel and technological resources when national security is at stake, and how to convey complex information and resulting assessments to policymakers for awareness and action. The decisions are seemingly endless but are vital to producing the best analysis for key officials …