Recent Posts

Water protests erupt in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Much of the Middle East is suffering from water scarcity issues amid extremely high temperatures in the summer. Residents protested a lack of water in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region on Wednesday, according to local media outlets. The demonstration came amid wider water access issues in the region. Dozens of people in …

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The Tunisian president’s political capital is finite

President Kais Saied’s July 25 decisions to suspend parliament and the government appear to have been largely popular, despite sharp criticism from those denouncing them as a coup, unconstitutional, or a dangerous overstep of his authority. The mass celebrations in the streets that broke out immediately after his televised announcement …

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The two pillars of the Abraham Accords

It has been a year since the August 2020 announcement of the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel. The accords were later signed at a White House ceremony attended by President Donald Trump that September. In less than a year the UAE and Israel swiftly …

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Afghan Refugee Wave Sharpens EU-Turkey Migration Crisis

Relations between Brussels and Ankara – already strained by earlier crises over refugees – face an even bigger test as the number of Afghans fleeing westwards rapidly increases. Thousands of refugees, mostly from Afghanistan and some other Asian countries, passing the Turkish-Iranian border, make regular new headlines in Turkey. A …

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New Bosnian Peace Envoy Inherits Mission Impossible

Christian Schmidt will need his wits about him – and the firm backing of Germany, the EU and US – if he is to avert a dangerous escalation in Bosnia. Bosnia’s new international High Representative, German Christian Schmidt, touched down at the beginning of August, but he will have scant …

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