Sadrist protesters stormed parliament today, rejecting the formation of the government under the premiership of Muhammad Shia Sudani, who was nominated recently by a rival Shia colaition. Hundreds of protesters, many of them followers of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, gathered in Tahrir Square early this evening and then moved …
Read More »Nile Dam dispute still stalled following US, GCC+3 summit in Jeddah
Although the leaders of Arab and Gulf countries, as well as the United States, expressed support for a diplomatic solution to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, many don’t believe this statement will revive the negotiations or push Ethiopia to end its unilateral measures. The summit in Jeddah on July 16 …
Read More »Biden Should Remove Cuba from the Infamous State Sponsors of Terrorism List
As the Cuban government celebrates the July 26 Day of the National Rebellion–a public holiday commemorating the 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks that is considered the precursor to the 1959 revolution–U.S. groups are calling on the Biden administration to stop its cruel sanctions that are creating such hardship for …
Read More »Why Coal Power is Dying and the Supreme Court Can’t Save It
The U.S. coal industry chalked up a couple of rare wins this summer. First the Supreme Court issued a ruling limiting the government’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Then President Joe Biden’s climate plan stalled in Congress again. But while some specific threats to the industry …
Read More »The Enduring Tyranny of Oil
It may seem hard to believe, but only 15 years ago many of us were talking confidently about “peak oil” — the moment of maximum global oil output after which, with world reserves dwindling, its use would begin an irreversible decline. Then along came hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and the …
Read More »Now for the hard part: A guide to implementing NATO’s new Strategic Concept
Last month’s NATO Summit, which featured the release of the Alliance’s new Strategic Concept, was a remarkable success. Thanks to strong leadership by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US President Joe Biden, the Alliance remains united despite an array of new strategic challenges. The concept’s three core tasks—collective defense, crisis …
Read More »Climbing the escalation ladder in Ukraine: A menu of options for the West
After making slow but steady gains in eastern Ukraine recently, Russia has inched closer to its recalibrated goal of seizing the entire Donbas region. Even though its military has sustained heavy losses—and while the Kremlin’s current objectives are much smaller than its initial goal of capturing Kyiv and overthrowing the …
Read More »As Russia and the United States Seek Influence in Africa, Strategic Pitfalls Loom
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s four-country Africa swing attracted a great deal of attention in Western media outlets, which framed his trip as a diplomatic campaign intended to prove that the West’s efforts to isolate Russia have obvious limits. In Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Republic of Congo, Lavrov sought …
Read More »Turkish consulate in Mosul targeted in rocket attack
The Turkish consulate in Mosul was attacked in a rocket attack, causing damage but no casualties, Iraqi and Turkish sources said. The overnight fire in Iraq’s main northern city came after deadly shelling, conducted by the Turkish army, killed nine civilians last week, prompting anti-Turkish protests in cities across Iraq. …
Read More »What to Expect From a Bolder Xi Jinping
Get Ready for a More Ambitious Chinese Foreign Policy As China prepares for this fall’s 20th Party Congress, the odds grow stronger by the day that Chinese President Xi Jinping will emerge from the meeting having secured a third term in office. This will mark a break with Chinese precedent …
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