January, 2022

• 5 January

  Erdogan’s End Game

  

  Will He Undermine Turkish Democracy to Stay in Power? Over the past few months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has looked increasingly desperate. He has stepped up his repression of critics and political opponents, including, most recently, Metin Gurcan, a founding member of the opposition Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), …

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• 5 January

  Syrian soldiers killed in deadly Islamic State ambush in Deir Ezzor

  

  The Syrian army loyal to Bashar al-Assad has struggled to control the country’s eastern desert. Syrian state-run media said five soldiers were killed in an Islamic State missile attack on a transport convoy in the country’s eastern desert on Sunday evening. Twenty others were wounded, state-run SANA news agency reported. …

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• 5 January

  Sudan’s PM resigns: How we got here, what comes next

  

  Abdalla Hamdok’s resignation is the latest blow to Sudan’s transition to democracy since the Oct. 25, 2021, military coup. Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned late Sunday, Jan. 2, amid a political impasse with leaders of the country’s military junta and a crackdown on protesters calling for full civilian rule, …

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• 5 January

  Saudi coalition demands Houthis release UAE vessel seized in Red Sea

  

  The Houthis claimed the ship was carrying military equipment and conducting “hostile activities” in Yemen’s territorial waters. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen accused the Houthis on Monday of “hijacking” an Emirati-flagged vessel in the Red Sea that it claimed was carrying medical supplies but which the rebels described as a …

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• 5 January

  Turkish inflation hits highest level under Erdogan’s rule

  

  Turkey’s consumer inflation is bound to increase further in the coming months after reaching 36% in 2021, with even bigger numbers recorded in the producer sector. Turkey’s consumer inflation surged by a staggering 13.6 percent in December, bringing the 2021 annual rate to 36 percent — the highest under the …

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• 5 January

  China’s Soft-Power Advantage in Africa

  

  Beijing Isn’t Just Building Roads—It’s Making Friends When U.S. policymakers consider China’s influence in Africa, they often think of big-ticket infrastructure development programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the past two decades, Beijing has spent billions building dams, highways, railways, and ports in countries from Egypt …

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• 5 January

  Russia Is Playing With Fire in the Balkans

  

  This year marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Yugoslav wars, Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II. Although the Balkan states moved toward democratic governance and integration with NATO and the European Union in the immediate aftermath of the wars, consistent neglect on the part of the …

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• 5 January

  General Qassem Soleimani: ‘The living martyr’

  

  Iran and Muslims, indeed even non-Muslims worldwide, have observed and continue to observe a somber second anniversary of the assassination of General Qassim Soleimani. I happen to share my birthday with the most horrific crime ever committed by the US in the assassination of Al Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani …

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• 5 January

  10 Conflicts to Watch in 2022

  

  Troubling undercurrents in 2021 – from the U.S. to Afghanistan, Ethiopia or the climate emergency – didn’t send battle deaths soaring or set the world ablaze. But as our look ahead to 2022 shows, many bad situations round the world could easily get worse. ” Foreign involvement in conflicts creates …

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• 5 January

  Iran Allows China To Open Consulate General In Southern Port Of Bandar Abbas

  

  The Iranian cabinet of ministers granted permission for the opening of China’s consulate general in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas. During a session on Wednesday, the cabinet approved a proposal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the opening of the consulate general of the People’s Republic of …

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