What’s new? The devastating blast in the Beirut port on 4 August 2020 was only the latest, and most terrifying, sign of the political bankruptcy of Lebanon’s ruling elites. These politicians have driven the country to the brink of ruin, as the banking sector collapses and COVID-19 spreads faster.
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November, 2020
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3 November
Iran tries to mediate cease-fire between Azerbaijan, Armenia
The fighting on Iran’s northwestern border has begun to alarm officials who are attempting to mediate a cease-fire between the two sides. As the battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues on Iran’s northwestern border, Iranian military officials have warned about the escalation as government officials travel to the neighboring countries …
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3 November
New initiative in Israel for Jewish-Arab party
Center-left politicians and former Knesset members are advancing an initiative for a Jewish-Arab party. In three rounds of elections last year, Israel’s center-left bloc campaigned on the notion of dissociating itself with the country’s Arab citizens. In an effort to sway right-wing voters to switch allegiance to the center-left bloc, …
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3 November
Are attacks on Syrian opposition signal from Moscow to Ankara?
As Turkey conducts simultaneous campaigns in different theaters — including assistance to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict — Moscow must be tempted to exploit the turbulence to extract concessions from Ankara.
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3 November
Turkey and NATO May Be at Loggerheads, but They Still Need Each Other
The recent NATO summit in London underscored how Turkey’s relations with its allies are becoming increasingly confrontational. In the run-up to the meeting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to veto the alliance’s defense plan for Poland and the Baltic states unless key Western powers became more attentive to Turkish …
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3 November
Will Either Macron or Erdogan Back Down in the Eastern Mediterranean?
French President Emmanuel Macron has clearly decided to up the ante in a standoff with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, where France is backing Greece and Cyprus in their dispute with Ankara over natural gas reserves and maritime boundaries.
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3 November
Libya’s Expanding Proxy War May Be the Ultimate Test of NATO’s Resilience
With Egypt reportedly on the brink of invading neighboring Libya, and troops from Chad said to be on their way north to join Gen. Khalifa Haftar in his fight to topple the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, what was already a complicated proxy war could soon become Africa’s first full-on …
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3 November
After the U.S., Turkey Should Be Next to Leave Syria
With the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic crash dominating the headlines, the civil war in Syria has faded into media obscurity. But there is more bad news there that warrants the world’s attention.
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3 November
Turkey’s Former Economy Czar Looks to Unseat Erdogan and the AKP
In a major political shake-up in Turkey, Ali Babacan, a former economy minister and once-close confidante of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently ended months of speculation and formally launched a new political party to challenge his old boss.
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3 November
How Many Bridges Can Turkey’s Erdogan Burn?
Since his sweeping overhaul of Turkey’s political system in 2017, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cemented his near-total control over the country. Despite the worst electoral setback of Erdogan’s career in the Istanbul mayoral election in June 2019, as well as a tailspinning economy exacerbated by the fallout from the …
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