September, 2023

• 19 September

  China Continues To Deepen Its Political Influence In Georgia – Analysis

  

  Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s recent visit to China and his meeting with President Xi Jinping heralded the establishment of a strategic partnership between China and Georgia. Garibashvili called his visit historic. Moreover, he expressed Tbilisi’s willingness to deepen its relationship with Beijing and support all the global projects—the Belt …

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• 19 September

  Armed Neutrality Is The Only Moral Foreign Policy – OpEd

  

  Former Vice-President Mike Pence is very concerned that Republicans are not sufficiently enthusiastic about aggressive, unnecessary wars. In a speech on Monday, Pence claimed “Some Republican candidates …[are] embracing a new and dangerous form of isolationism.” “Isolationism” is just a slur used by hawks to describe any policy that falls …

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• 18 September

  Can Baghdad meet the deadline for its border security deal with Iran?

  

  As Iran’s ultimatum to Baghdad inches closer, the challenge of removing Kurdish separatist groups from their mutual border lies not in Baghdad’s will to cooperate, but in Iraqi Kurds’ secret collaboration with US/Israeli agents to keep them there. On 19 March, Iran signed a border security agreement with Iraq whereby …

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• 18 September

  Israeli strike on Tartous kills two Syrian soldiers

  

  Israeli continues striking Syria as part of its ‘war between wars’ with Damascus An Israeli air attack on the Syrian coastal city Tartous killed two Syrian soldiers and injured six more on 14 September, a Syrian military source told state media SANA. “[A]t 17:22 this afternoon, the Israeli enemy carried …

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• 18 September

  Bad Taliban, good Taliban: Britain falls victim to its own propaganda

  

  Having viciously smeared the Taliban for over two decades, Britain now faces a challenge in the global race to establish influence in resource-rich and geographically-critical Afghanistan. On July 18th, prominent UK lawmaker Tobias Ellwood posted a surreal video to Twitter. While roaming Helmand province – the site of one of …

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• 18 September

  Russian grain diplomacy: Winning hearts, minds, and markets

  

  The Ukraine conflict and the Black Sea grain deal have highlighted the ‘geopolitics of wheat’ and helped Russia gain leverage over Europe while expanding its influence in Africa and the Global South. In the complex fabric of international relations, the interaction between geopolitics and trade – particularly of vital commodities …

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• 18 September

  Kirkuk on fire: Ethnicity, oil, and sovereignty light the flames

  

  What began as a localized political pact to help fix relations between Baghdad and Erbil has spiraled into renewed ethnic turmoil in Kirkuk and a resurgence of Kurdish independence aspirations. An agreement reached between the governments of Baghdad and Erbil to relocate the Iraqi army from its headquarters in Kirkuk …

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• 18 September

  US Steps Up Fight Against Terror Financing With Hezbollah Sanctions – OpEd

  

  In a significant move to combat the financing of Hezbollah, the US Treasury Department last week imposed terrorism sanctions on a family network spanning seven individuals and several businesses with ties to Lebanon and South America. Among those targeted was Amer Mohammed Akil Rada, a Lebanese man alleged to have …

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• 18 September

  Confusion And Uncertainty Shape Debate About US Gulf Policy – Analysis

  

  Debates about the US commitment to Gulf security are skewed by confusion, miscommunication, and contradictory policies. The skewing has fuelled uncertainty about US policy as well as Gulf attitudes in an evolving multi-polar world and fuelled misconceptions and misunderstandings. The confusion is all the more disconcerting given that the fundamentals …

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• 18 September

  Tensions On Belarus Border: A Look At Military Spending And Arms Import Patterns – Analysis

  

  Relations between Belarus and its NATO neighbours deteriorated further over the summer. Troops have been deployed on both sides of the Belarus–Poland border, and each country has accused the other of escalating tensions. Lithuania this month closed two of six border crossings with Belarus. Belarus’s defence minister, Viktor Khrenin, went …

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