It has been the Secret Service’s protocol for more than a half-century since the assassination of John F. Kennedy — survey and secure all nearby structures to prevent gunfire from reaching a president or anyone else under the agency’s protection. But somehow on Saturday, a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man was able …
Read More »Blog Layout
Iran Update, July 13, 2024
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike in the al Mawasi humanitarian zone targeting Hamas’ top military commander, Mohammad Deif, on July 13.[i] The strike also targeted Hamas Khan Younis Brigade Commander Rafe Salamah. Israel is still assessing whether the strike killed Deif or Salamah. Israeli officials confirmed that …
Read More »Why Is Georgia Risking Its Relationship With The EU? – OpEd
From EU aspirations to political turmoilGeorgia’s relations with the West have seen better days. The country has recently found itself embroiled in controversy and diplomatic tensions, stemming from the passage of a controversial “foreign influence” law. This law has had far-reaching consequences, including the suspension of Georgia’s EU membership bid …
Read More »Friends Reunited? The Renaissance In Russia-Cuba Strategic Ties – Analysis
The recent presence of Russian warships In Havana —including the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the nuclear submarine Kazan— for naval exercises has drawn considerable attention in strategic communities all over the world. Considering comparisons to historical precedents and the degree of tension in the current dynamics of great power strategic …
Read More »Iran’s Mirage: The ‘Reformist’ Trap
[A]ny Iranian politician must be prepared to impose the government’s Islamist laws rigorously and crush any form of opposition to the Islamic Republic. The political landscape in Iran does not tolerate dissent or deviation from these core principles, ensuring that only those who conform entirely to the regime’s ideology can …
Read More »Turkey Open to Hosting Syrian Leader for Normalization Talks
Latest Developments Turkey is open to repairing ties with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad more than a decade after severing diplomatic relations with Damascus at the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. On July 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he is prepared to invite Assad and …
Read More »The 2024 NATO Washington Summit: A Pre-Storm Gathering?
Political challenges among NATO members, the spectre of a second Trump presidency, and a bleaker military situation in Ukraine – compared to the expectations at the 2023 Vilnius Summit for the Ukrainian counteroffensive – made Washington feel like a ‘pre-storm summit’. The Washington Summit – double-hatted as the NATO 75th …
Read More »Erdogan says Biden, U.S. complicit in alleged Israeli war crimes
“We are an unwavering NATO ally. However, we do not believe that this impedes our ability to establish positive relationships with nations such as China and Russia,” Erdogan told Newsweek. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration are complicit in what he called Israeli …
Read More »Central Asian states look to Iran as they seek to expand regional transit corridors
Since the early days of independence in late 1991, the governments in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have pointed to the map to show Central Asia’s potential as a major transit hub for east-west and north-south trade. Realizing that potential has not been so easy. China was anxious to …
Read More »Syrian armed groups divided over Turkey-Syria normalization push
In recent days, widespread protests have erupted across many Turkish-controlled towns and cities in the countryside to the north of Aleppo and around Idlib. Some protests have escalated into violence, as clashes have broken out between local armed groups and Turkish forces, resulting in multiple casualties among both protesters and …
Read More »