August, 2023

• 22 August

  Getting Israeli-Saudi Rapprochement Right

  

  No Deal Is Better Than a Bad One Once wary of attempting to bring peace to the Middle East, the Biden administration is now considering a major diplomatic push in the region. The primary goal is not to revive the defunct Israeli-Palestinian peace process but to bridge the divide between …

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• 22 August

  After Destroying Lebanon, Iran-controlled Hezbollah Threatens War with Israel

  

  Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of the Hezbollah terror group, recently threatened to send Israel back “to the Stone Age” if it goes to war with Lebanon — meaning defend itself against an Iranian-Lebanese attack. While Nasrallah’s threat to destroy Israel is not new, he surely knows a thing or two about …

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• 22 August

  Iran’s Khuzestan: Thirst and Turmoil

  

  What’s new? Khuzestan, one of Iran’s most resource-rich provinces and the fifth most populous, is a microcosm of the country’s most serious problems. It suffers from severe environmental degradation, economic deprivation and socio-political discontent. The water scarcity that sparked protests in mid-2021 will almost certainly recur and could trigger similar unrest. …

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• 22 August

  Russian airstrikes target Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria

  

  The al-Qaeda offshoot is focused on defending its territory from Russian-backed Syrian government forces, but it has also clashed with the Islamic State recently. Several members of the Syrian militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham were killed in Russian airstrikes early Monday morning. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported …

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• 22 August

  The US is losing sway in Africa

  

  The United States lavished military aid on Niger and nearby countries. But the ties we built have turned out to be tenuous. Ever since the US Army established Africa Command in 2007, the vast West African country of Niger has been the apple of our eye. Working with a pro-Western …

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• 22 August

  U.S. intelligence says Ukraine will fail to meet offensive’s key goal

  

  Thwarted by minefields, Ukrainian forces won’t reach the southeastern city of Melitopol, a vital Russian transit hub, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment The U.S. intelligence community assesses that Ukraine’s counteroffensive will fail to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol, people familiar with the classified forecast told The Washington …

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• 22 August

  Can Russia and China Breathe New Life Into BRICS?

  

  The global south is hungry for an alternative to the Western-dominated order, but BRICS may not be up to the task. The next test of whether top U.S. adversaries can erode its role as the leading global superpower will come in the form of a major diplomatic confab in South …

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• 22 August

  Missile Diplomacy

  

  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is known for many things, but subtlety isn’t one of them. To coincide with the launch of U.S.-South Korean joint military drills on Monday local time, North Korean state media released a photo of Kim observing the test-firing of strategic cruise missiles off the …

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• 22 August

  North Korea: Russia’s Staunch Ally – Analysis

  

  At the end of July, a Russian military delegation led by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General Sergei Shoigu, visited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. An official welcoming ceremony for the Russian delegation was held at the Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang with the participation of …

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• 22 August

  Is The US Dollar On Its Way Out? – Analysis

  

  The United States has been instrumental in leading the post-war global economic system which it helped create. Yet its economic weight has declined over time and strategic competitors in emerging markets are calling for change, including possible ‘decoupling’. Some suggest that the US dollar’s days as the central global currency …

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