The White House has repeatedly stated that Russia undermined U.S. efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria, supporting the Government of President Bashar al-Assad. The American administration further claims that Moscow continues to hinder opportunities to engage the moderate Syrian opposition in the discussion of political change, in which,…
Read MoreNo sooner the first NAVTEX signaling a concerted plan of provocations in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone expired, Ankara issued a second Navigation Telex notifying the apathetic world that it is here to stay – audaciously seeking to block waters even closer to the southern coast of the Republic of…
Read MoreExactly three years ago, in October 2011, my phone rang at my antique maps gallery-cum-office. At the other end of the line was Dr Gregory Reichberg, an American seasoned researcher, a dear colleague then Director of the PRIO Cyprus Centre. Already at my time at the UN University HQ Tokyo…
Read MoreAt the end of the month of March 2014, President Obama made a quick trip to Saudi Arabia after having met America’s allies in Europe in discussing the Ukrainian Crisis and the annexation of Crimea by Moscow. The hyperbolic rhetoric on European and American sides in comparing and linking Putin’s…
Read MoreRegrettably, the West stubbornly maintains a unilateral position on the Syrian conflict. Hence the chances of its resolution become minimal. As the conflict enters its third year, the regime of Bashar al-Assad seems to be enjoying the support of the majority of the Syrian people and is not going to…
Read MoreWritten by Dr. Dimitrios N. Koumparoulis Rebel forces have apparently taken more of the country’s oil refining (Zawiya) and processing infrastructure (Brega). Most observers give the Gaddafi regime limited time before a full regime change takes place in Libya. Watch what happens to oil prices if and when the Gaddafis…
Read MoreSix months have elapsed since the tabling of NATO’s new Strategic Concept, and already we see, with the Arab Spring, the limits of the Alliance’s extra-territorial crisis-management capacity. By this I don’t mean the relative inability of the “Unified Protector” mission to decide the fate of Libya. In fact, NATO’s…
Read MoreAfter the collapse of the bipolar Cold-War stalemate that had constrained and antagonised international relations for half a century, the main concern has been putting the world together again. Both the US Security Concept and the EU 1993 Security Strategy indicated “failed States” as the main threat to peace and…
Read MoreWritten by Mr. Muin Khoury Egypt, after Tunisia, has been rising from humiliation, is meanwhile reclaiming dignity and demanding respect. In his book, the ‘Geopolitics of Emotion’ – How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation and Hope Are Reshaping the World – Dominique Moisi attempts to divide the world into emotional feelings.…
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