July, 2022

• 4 July

  Can IPEF Outweigh India’s Over Dependency On China For Supply Chain?

  

  The recent disruptions in global supply chain, leading to China losing prominence, are prompting serious discussions on India’s dependency on China. Hitherto, notwithstanding political face-off, India’s fast growth in electronic and electrical and pharmaceutical industries were largely dependent on supply chain from China. Given the China’s prominence in global supply …

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• 4 July

  Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Gunman in West Bank Clash

  

  Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, in the latest in a series of clashes. The Palestinian “Islamic Jihad” militant group said that one of its men was killed “confronting the occupation forces” in Jenin, where …

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• 4 July

  US announces plans to flood Europe with troops and weapons

  

  In remarks at the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain, US President Joe Biden announced a sweeping increase in US troop deployments to Europe as part of a plan by NATO to militarize the continent for its ongoing war with Russia and escalating conflict with China. The NATO summit formally invited …

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• 4 July

  Turkey retracts veto on Sweden, Finland joining NATO amid war summit in Madrid

  

  On the eve of the NATO summit focusing on war against Russia in Ukraine as well as confronting China, top officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland agreed on Tuesday in Madrid to a trilateral memorandum of understanding allowing Stockholm’s and Helsinki’s entry into the military alliance. After a meeting attended …

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• 4 July

  “A Capitalist to the Heart”: An Iraqi Tobacco Tycoon Thrived in the Chaos of Sanctions and War

  

  Iraqi tycoon Waheb Tabra worked with Saddam Hussein’s son in the 1990s before making a fortune smuggling cigarettes. Since the U.S. invasion, he has become a symbol of Iraq’s political corruption while dealing with everyone from top politicians to the Islamic State. Key FindingsTabra’s career started in the 1990s with …

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• 4 July

  Smoke and Mirrors: How the “Father” of Iraq’s Cigarette Smugglers Built An Empire

  

  Iraqi tycoon Nizar Hanna Nasri sits atop an empire spanning pharmaceuticals, liquor imports, and some of Erbil’s most spectacular real estate developments. But his success was built on a far less visible foundation: A globe-spanning trade in black-market cigarettes. Key Findings Nizar Hanna Nasri’s facilities have fed billions of cigarettes …

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• 4 July

  A ‘Bloody’ Trade: Inside the Murky Supply Chain Bringing Syrian Phosphates Into Europe

  

  European countries have recently resumed imports of phosphate — a key ingredient in fertilizer — from Syria. The trade enriches sanctioned oligarchs, war profiteers, and the Syrian government, but has continued thanks to legal loopholes. Key Findings Imports of Syrian phosphates into Europe have boomed over the past several years.The …

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• 4 July

  Algeria to maintain gas supplies to Spain despite dispute

  

  Algeria’s announcement concerning the immediate suspension of the treaty of friendship and good neighborliness concluded with Spain in October 2002, after Madrid’s radical change of position on the Western Sahara issue on March 18, will not have negative consequences on gas contracts signed by the two countries. The ongoing political …

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• 4 July

  Pentagon ‘fully supports’ F-16 sale to Turkey

  

  The Biden administration publicly endorsed a plan to sell Turkey fresh fighter jets just a day after Ankara dropped its objection to Sweden and Finland joining NATO over ties to Kurdish groups. Just a day after Turkey said it would accept Sweden’s and Finland’s bids to join the NATO alliance, …

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• 4 July

  Israel draws closer to NATO

  

  Israel aspires to upgrade its relations with NATO beyond geography, offering technological innovation and intelligence-gathering capabilities as a basis for stronger ties. Jerusalem is closely following the annual NATO summit convening this week in Madrid. The dramatic news of an agreement with Turkey for Sweden and Finland to join the …

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