January, 2022

• 8 January

  Living in Epoch-Defining Times: Food, Agriculture and the New World Order

  

  Farmerless farms manned by driverless machines, monitored by drones and doused with chemicals to produce commodity crops from patented genetically engineered seeds for industrial ‘biomatter’ to be processed and constituted into something resembling food. Data platforms, private equity firms, e-commerce giants and AI-controlled farming systems. This is the future that …

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• 8 January

  Taiwan Does Not Resemble Ukraine as Much as it Does the Donbas

  

  The latest tactic of the language of hegemony has been to equate the situation of Taiwan with that of Ukraine to exemplify the aggressiveness and intrinsic evil of China and Russia, countries described as part of an alliance to destroy the “rules based order” that the United States built and …

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• 8 January

  Biden and the Tragedy of US Foreign Policy

  

  Not since the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower has the United States elected a chief executive with formidable experience in international security policy. President Biden has decades of foreign policy experience in the White House and the Senate, which is extremely unusual in American presidential politics. Therefore, he should be …

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• 8 January

  Islamic State ramps up activities in eastern Syria

  

  Islamic State is applying Sharia rules in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor and imposing taxes on residents by force of arms. The Islamic State (IS) carries out almost daily operations in Deir ez-Zor against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the civilians it accuses of cooperating with the …

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• 8 January

  Iran, Iraq draw up plans for railway connection from Basra to Shalamcheh

  

  Iran and Iraq transportation ministries signed a document setting a roadmap for implementation of Basra-Shalamcheh railway connection, which should boost economic activity for both countries. The transportation ministers of Iran and Iraq have signed a memorandum of understanding to build the Shalamcheh-Basra railway and Shatt al-Arab bridge. The agreement includes …

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• 8 January

  Gantz, King Abdullah discuss regional stability

  

  Clearly it is no coincidence that Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz met in Amman with Jordanian King Abdullah one week only after hosting in his Rosh Ha’ayin home Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Jan. 5 meeting between Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Jordanian King Abdullah was not their first meeting. …

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• 8 January

  Attacks on US in Iraq meant to send ‘harsh’ message — without spilling blood

  

  On the anniversary of the death of former IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani and with the resumption of the nuclear talks in Vienna, Iran stakes out a hard line. An Arab diplomat who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity warned that for every day the talks aimed at reviving the …

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• 8 January

  Ukraine Conlfict Risk Alert

  Amid growing concerns over potential Russian offensive, hostilities continued in Donbas conflict zone despite restoration of July 2020 ceasefire. Fighting and shelling continued along Donbas contact line. Ukrainian military said three of its servicemen were killed in combat during month, while Russian-backed forces reported four fighters killed. Explosion in govt-controlled …

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• 8 January

  Bulgaria in 2022: Can a New Government ‘Continue the Change’?

  New Bulgarian PM Petkov faces a struggle reconciling the competing demands of his coalition allies if Bulgaria is to go a year without yet another election. With three parliamentary and two presidential elections and the fall from power of Boyko Borissov, 2021 was one of the most eventful years in …

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• 8 January

  US Targets ‘Corrupt, Destabilising’ Bosnian Politicians, TV Station

  The US administration has imposed sanctions on several Bosnian officials and a TV station for alleged corruption and for trying to destabilise Bosnia and Herzegovina, but experts said these measures alone might not do much to ease the country’s political crisis. Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik, his adviser and …

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