March, 2021

• 17 March

  For the U.K. and Ireland, Brexit and COVID-19 Are a Perfect Storm

  

  As the world braces for a prolonged economic downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic, the United Kingdom and Ireland may have to face this crisis alongside another, partly self-inflicted one: a no-deal Brexit. The U.K. officially left the European Union in January and is currently in a transition period that …

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• 17 March

  In the Aftermath of Brexit, What Can ‘Global Britain’ Be?

  

  Over the past four years, as the United Kingdom has wrestled with the consequences of its narrow vote to leave the European Union, there has been little to no broader foreign policy debate in the country. Instead, Britons seem to have become caught between three temperaments. There are the catastrophists, …

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• 17 March

  The Many Contradictions of ‘Global Britain’ in the Gulf

  

  Since the 2016 Brexit referendum, the United Kingdom has been trying hard to figure out its new position on the global stage. Not without a certain degree of nostalgia, the ruling Conservative Party has put forward the idea of “global Britain,” reviving old imperial networks and repositioning London at their …

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• 17 March

  The U.K.’s Incoherent China Strategy

  

  Earlier this month, the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, delivered a speech in Parliament setting out measures to ensure that British businesses do not profit from what he called the “industrial scale” forced labor of minority Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region. However, Raab’s remarks made no mention of …

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• 17 March

  Syria: In the Middle of a Long Cycle

  

  On 6 March 2011, the local security services in the small town of Daraa, southern Syria, detained fifteen teenagers painting anti-government graffiti on fences and buildings. During the subsequent interrogations, the teens were allegedly subjected to unjustifiably cruel treatment and even torture. Since all the detainees were born to prominent …

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• 17 March

  Israel unveils the ‘Iron Sting’ laser, GPS-guided mortar munition

  A ‘networked precision fire system’ that engages targets accurately and prevents collateral damage • 10-year development concludes with successful trials As the IDF completes preparations for possible combat in both the southern and the northern fronts — where it is expected to encounter a smarter, well-organized enemy —the Defense Ministry, …

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• 17 March

  Iran showcases new ‘missile city’ secret base for anti-ship missiles

  

  The new Iranian video shows a dozen mobile launchers with two missiles each mounted on trucks, and underground storage for hundreds of more missiles. Iran has unveiled a new “missile city” which includes a massive amount of missiles and munitions. It is allegedly located near the sea and provides easy …

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• 17 March

  ‘It is not Lebanon and Gaza — Egypt is the hottest and most active border’

  

  IDF officials link the success in thwarting drug smuggling through the Egyptian border to the rise of crime in the Bedouin sector inside Israel While the borders with Lebanon, Syria and Gaza make most of the headlines, the actual border with the most action seems to be the one with …

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• 17 March

  ‘Israel will be hit by 2,000 missiles a day in future war’ – IDF general

  

  “They know they cannot defeat us on the battlefield so they try to move the war to a second front and that is our homes and in our cities.” Israel will come under an onslaught of 2,000 rockets and missiles every day during a future war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, …

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• 17 March

  Kurdish forces blame Turkey for Euphrates River water drop in northeast Syria

  

  The Syrian Democratic Forces claim Turkey caused a drop in the Euphrates River water level that will harm residents and their economic activities in the areas they control in northern and eastern Syria. The water level of the Euphrates River in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa has decreased dramatically over …

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