Eurasia

The apparent takeover of the Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party by Bafel Talabani is more family affair than policy dispute. The power struggle within Iraqi Kurdish Talabani dynasty sharply escalated late Tuesday as dozens of gunmen stormed the offices of a fledgling media outlet owned by Lahur Sheikh Jangi …

Although Turkish authorities have increased security operations against Islamic State cells in the country, Ankara’s anti-IS strategy remains riddled with gaping holes. Increasing security operations against Islamic State (IS) cells across Turkey since June have raised the question whether Ankara is changing its oft-criticized anti-IS strategy as the latest operations …

Another lost war! Another denial! The US actually began its war on the people of Afghanistan back during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, who foolishly followed the advice of his Russia-hating, rabidly anti-Communist Polish emigre National Security Director Zbigniew Brzezinski. Brzezinski, in mid-1979, successfully convinced the gullible Carter to launch …

Philosopher Georg Hegel declared the only lesson of history is that we do not learn from history. As the US prepares for the final pullout from Afghanistan and what will soon follow as the fall of the country to the Taliban an entire generation of us wonder if this is …

This commentary analyzes the triggers that cause nation-states to embrace evil. No country is inherently good or evil. From time to time, however, nations turn evil. Just as every human is potentially criminal, every nation is potentially wicked. Triggers alter action-potential into action. Frequently, governments accuse each other of being …

Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has stepped down nearly nine months after he was tasked with forming the crisis-ridden country’s next government. On Thursday, Hariri told reporters that President Michel Aoun had not accepted his latest Cabinet lineup less than 24 hours after the three-time prime minister submitted the proposal. …

In the margins of Greece’s booming IVF industry, women trade their eggs and clinics gamble with ethics while the state looks the other way.The working week was a grind but the weekends back then made it seem worthwhile. On Friday nights, between waitressing or whatever job she had taken to …

Production pressure, lax safety and outdated equipment are costing lives in Serbia’s arms industry. Yet those in charge are rarely held responsible. For residents of Cacak, a town in western Serbia, it was like a blast from the past – two explosions two weeks apart at the state-run Sloboda arms …

As the latest election fails to resolve the political deadlock that has gripped Bulgaria since April, the country is heading into uncharted territory. For the second time in just over three months, Bulgaria has seen parliamentary elections. While the April 4 vote resulted in a surprise, Sunday’s poll was hardly …

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul says, “President Biden should not enter into any deals with Iran without an end to these assaults on our citizens.” The Biden administration and some Republicans in Congress are at odds over the Iran nuclear deal negotiations following an alleged Iranian intelligence plot to kidnap …