October, 2022

• 31 October

  Recap: Lebanon Sending Syrian Refugees Back Home

  

  In remote villages across the Lebanese Bekaa region, Syrian refugees are packing their belongings and getting ready to return home. Starting Wednesday, and as part of Lebanon’s “voluntary return” plan, hundreds of refugees have returned to Syria. Syrians Returning to Devastated Country, Escaping Economic Meltdown in Lebanon (Zaman al-Wasl) Many …

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• 31 October

  IntelBrief: The 20th Party Congress and the Continuation of China’s Increasingly Assertive Foreign Policy

  

  During Xi’s decade-long rule, China’s foreign policy has become more assertive and aggressive, and the 20th Party Congress signaled a continuation of this trajectory. The Politburo Standing Committee is now completely made up of Xi loyalists, while those considered closer to former leader Hu Jintao have been ousted from the …

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• 31 October

  Estimated global nuclear weapons worldwide

  

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• 31 October

  IntelBrief: Iran-Backed Factions Take Control in Iraq

  

  More than one year after national elections and amid a serious rift in the majority Shia community, Iraq’s major factions are forming a full-term government. The new government will be dominated by leaders that, to varying degrees, support close relations with Iran and are skeptical of relations with Washington. Shia …

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• 31 October

  IntelBrief: Iran Expands Military Support to Russian War Effort

  

  Iran is materially supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine by selling Moscow armed unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and ballistic missiles. Russia’s purchases of Iranian equipment illustrates the significant shortfalls in Moscow’s existing arsenal and an inability to manufacture military equipment needed to sustain the war effort. The Iranian-made weaponry will …

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• 31 October

  Bio-Weapons Can Further Increase the Risks of On-Going World Crisis

  

  The possibility of the use of nuclear weapons, intentional or on the basis of misunderstandings which can result in a situation of high-tensions and escalating tensions continuing for a long time, has been repeatedly and increasingly held out in recent times. In this context various scenarios have been presented by …

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• 31 October

  A time unpredictable

  

  The current time is unpredictable. Competitions and contradictions are reaching to boiling point. The metropolitan center in the world order is experiencing heightened tensions, and consequences, trickling down gradually, are pressing peoples in lands to unfathomable sufferings while the Empire is insisting on “rules-based” world order, an Empire-centric old order …

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• 31 October

  Tens Of Thousands Protest In Prague Demanding Gas Talks with Moscow And Decrying Anti-Russian Sanctions

  

  Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Prague’s central square, on Friday, to decry rampant inflation amid the Czech government’s support for anti-Russia sanctions and aid packages to Ukraine. Media reports said: The protesters called for direct gas talks with Moscow and the resignation of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and …

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• 30 October

  Everybody wants to hop on the BRICS Express

  

  Eurasia is about to get a whole lot larger as countries line up to join the Chinese and Russian-led BRICS and SCO, to the detriment of the west Let’s start with what is in fact a tale of Global South trade between two members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). …

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• 30 October

  Stop Fighting Blind: Better Use-of-Force Oversight in the U.S. Congress

  

  What’s new? The post-9/11 U.S. “war on terror” expanded under three presidents, with Congress asserting little oversight after enacting a broad 2001 authorisation. The Biden administration has dialled back operations somewhat. Yet the conflict’s legal underpinnings remain in place, while congressional efforts to reassert control over the use of force have …

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