June 30, 2021 Eurasia, Middle Orient
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday touched down in the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first minister from Jerusalem to formally visit the Gulf nation. Lapid met with counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and will later inaugurate the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi, as well as Jerusalem’s Consulate …
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Middle Orient
There are many details to discuss and negotiate but the elegance of its simplicity should be motivation enough to warrant careful consideration. I didn’t become truly aware of the “Arab-Israeli conflict” until the 1967 Six Day War, when I was 11 years old. I have studied the conflict ever since …
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Eurasia, Middle Orient
President Joe Biden is keen to continue the Trump-era legacy of pressure on the People’s Republic, but Beijing won’t sit back and accept this behavior. In recent years, the United States has expressed growing concern about the rise of China, and especially Beijing’s role in seeking to play a greater …
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Iran, Middle Orient
Issues include the use of ballistic missiles, the Islamic Republic’s destabilization of the Middle East and potentially extending nuclear limitations beyond 2030. Some major events have happened in the last week of the nuclear talks’ standoff between Iran, the US and other world powers, which give some additional insights into …
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Iran, Middle Orient
The Mossad-CIA story in the Mike Pompeo, Yossi Cohen era It would be foolish for the Biden administration to return to the Iran nuclear deal when it can see the Islamic Republic was able to unwind from the nuclear limitations in a mere matter of months, former US secretary of …
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Africa
France is ending Operation Barkhane, shifting its counterterrorism posture in West Africa and attempting to devise a new approach in the Sahel. Without robust Western counterterrorism assistance, large swaths of West Africa could end up being controlled by al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliates.
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Eurasia, Middle Orient
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is in dire need of emergency assistance to help sustain it and prevent an outright collapse. The average monthly salary for a soldier is just $80, leading some soldiers to abandon their jobs amidst deteriorating morale within the army.
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Middle Orient
Italian police recently announced that they had disrupted a terrorist plot by an Italian far-right violent extremist group planning to bomb a NATO base. Italian authorities, like their counterparts throughout Europe, are increasingly concerned about far-right violent extremism and terrorism.
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Eurasia, Iran, Middle Orient
The regime’s efforts to ensure the election of a president closely allied with Iran’s Supreme Leader succeeded with the victory of Ibrahim Raisi in Friday’s vote. The low voter turnout indicates widespread resentment at the regime’s narrowing of the candidate field to favor Raisi, foreshadowing potential future unrest. As president, …
Read More »
June 28, 2021 Eurasia
The morning after a Russian-American summit is most critical to know whether the previous day’s bonhomie was real, surreal or unreal. Surveying the Geneva Summit (June 16) between presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, I cautiously assessed the next day, “Does Biden have the political capital to press ahead with …
Read More »