June, 2020

• 21 June

  Pulling Lebanon out of the Pit

  An uprising of unprecedented scope has rocked Lebanon as the country’s economy tumbles deeper into recession. Poverty and unemployment could lead to violent unrest. Donors should put together an emergency package but condition further aid upon reforms to tackle corruption, a major grievance driving protest. What’s new? The impact of the …

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• 20 June

  The Assad-Makhlouf spat: A complicated family affair

  In the fall of 1997, at the Carlton Hotel in Damascus, a simple wedding was held for the man who would become Syria’s richest businessman and the regime’s financial arm. Rami Makhlouf, Bashar al-Assad’s maternal cousin, was getting married. The Makhlouf family chose a four-star hotel as they liked to …

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• 20 June

  A moment of reckoning for the US and Iraq

  The U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue that will be launched this week provides an opportunity for the two sides to put their relations, as Iraqi President Dr. Barham Salih said last April, “in the right context.” A dialogue gives both parties a chance to air their grievances, and there are at least …

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• 20 June

  IntelBrief: Tensions between China and India Have Asia—and the World—on Edge

  Bottom Line Up Front China and India—two nuclear-armed powers with the largest populations in the world—have recently been engaged in a tense standoff along one of the world’s longest shared land borders. While this is not the first time China and India have clashed over territorial demarcation, what is different …

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• 20 June

  IntelBrief: Domestic Challenges Impact U.S. Middle East Policy

  Bottom Line Up Front The domestic challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak and social unrest in the United States are necessitating Trump administration adjustments to policy in the Middle East. The twin crises are likely to limit the Trump administration’s willingness to address tensions with any of its regional adversaries. …

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• 20 June

  IntelBrief: AQIM Leader Killed, but Al-Qaeda Remains a Highly Resilient Adversary

  Bottom Line Up Front In this photo taken from video is Abdelmalek Droukdel. The French military and allied forces in Mali killed the longtime leader of al-Qaida’s North African arm, who commanded jihadists in his native Algeria and then spread their movement across Africa’s Sahel region, France’s defense minister said …

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• 20 June

  Finally, a Good New Snap-Back Plan on Iran

  The RSC plan also advocates that Congress impose further new sanctions on “Iran’s petrochemical, shipping, financial, construction and automotive sectors.” Legislation would also target “Iran’s human rights violations and regional aggression, including in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. And it suggests sanctioning the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), …

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• 20 June

  GHETTO-BLASTERS: THE DANISH NEIGHBOURHOOD BATTLING EVICTION

  Plans to socially re-arrange poor ‘non-Western’ neighbourhoods are jeopardizing Denmark’s reputation as a socially responsible country, Jamila Versi, from the Almen Modstand group says.

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• 20 June

  Three’s a Crowd: the Albanian Crime Gang that Wasn’t

  In 2018, Albanian authorities said they had busted an organised crime group with tentacles reaching across Europe. Then a newly-created team of special prosecutors backtracked.

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• 20 June

  Teddy Bear Bomb in Libya Linked to Serbian Arms Violations

  An improvised bomb found last week strapped to a teddy bear in the Libyan capital featured a mortar shell produced last year in Serbia. Despite an arms embargo, Serbian weapons are still finding their way to the North African country.

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