May, 2022

• 14 May

  Will the Lebanese Elections Pave the Way for Increased Syrian Influence in Lebanon?

  

  Sunday won’t be a normal day in Lebanon. Four years after the 2018 elections, nearly four million Lebanese citizens are invited to cast a vote in the country’s parliamentary elections. These elections, however, are very different from 2018’s. Not only because the country went through an uprising and major turmoil …

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• 14 May

  Recap: Brussels Conference Boycotts Russia

  

  The Brussels VI conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and the region” was held on May 9th and 10th May in the Belgian capital. According to the European Commission, the goal of the conference is “to continue supporting the Syrian people in Syria and the region and mobilize the …

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• 14 May

  Putin’s Strategic Patience And The West’s Anxiety

  

  The ongoing war in Ukraine is poised to be one of the most significant history-changing events in the turn of the new century, triggering an unprecedented wave of sanctions and unified almost the entire global order in effectively turning Moscow into the most sanctioned state by far. This enormous turn …

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• 14 May

  India And Germany: Moving Beyond Diplomatic Niceties

  

  Germany’s recently elected center-left coalition under Chancellor Scholz chose India as the partner for its first governmental consultations on 2nd May 2022. Beyond the signaling effects that Europe’s and Asia’s largest democracies intend to cooperate more closely together, the final joint statement exhibits the depth of mutual understanding and trust …

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• 14 May

  Sinjar Becomes Latest Flashpoint For Iran-Turkey Tensions In Iraq

  

  Clashes between Iraqi security forces and a Yazidi militia known as the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) may represent one of several new fronts in escalating tensions between Iran and Turkey in Iraq. Turkey has intensified air, drone and artillery attacks against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets beyond the remote, northern …

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• 14 May

  Forget What ‘Experts’ Claim About Deflation: It Strengthens Economy

  

  For most experts, deflation is bad news since it generates expectations for a continued decline in prices, leading consumers to postpone the purchases of present goods, since they expect to purchase them at lower prices in the future. Consequently, this weakens the overall flow of current spending and this, in …

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• 14 May

  Khamenei’s Attempts To Have His Son Named As Successor

  

  As a rule of thumb, all dictators are worried at the end of their rule about the future and who will grip power after them. Their attempts are geared towards somehow putting their children in their place in order to continue their rule. This is also true of Ali Khamenei, …

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• 14 May

  For Refugees on Serbia-Hungary Border, ‘the Game’ Goes on

  

  While Europe shows compassion to refugees from Ukraine, those from outside Europe face the same obstacles to get to the West as before – as BIRN found out on a nighttime visit to a forest in northern Serbia. If you didn’t know the context, it might look like a rave …

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• 14 May

  Balkan States’ Stash of Soviet-made Weapons Could Aid Ukraine

  

  With political will and the right incentives, a number of Balkan states could provide Ukraine with significant Soviet-made weaponry in its fight against Russia. From T-72 tanks to BMP infantry fighting vehicles, Mi-24 gunships to Strela anti-aircraft missiles, the countries of the Balkans have a lot to offer when it …

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• 14 May

  Russia Targets Bosnia With Disinformation About Ukrainian War

  

  Moscow is busy selling its own version of the war in Ukraine to Bosnian citizens – cynically using analogies with the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica to justify its invasion and destabilize Bosnia at the same time. “There were literally bodies on the streets. Some of them had just been shot, …

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