Global Geopolitics

Turkey descends into civil war as conflict in southeast escalates

By Joris Leverink
The latest footage to come out of Sur, the historical district in Diyarbakir that has been under total lock down by Turkish armed forces for the past sixty days, shows a level of devastation one would sooner expect in Syria. In more ways than one – empty streets lined with debris, bombed-out buildings, tanks and soldiers shooting at invisible assailants – the situation in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeastern regions resembles a war zone.

The Fearful World of Network News in 2015

By Jim Lobe
If your view of world events outside the U.S. was shaped in substantial part by watching the evening news shows on the three major U.S. networks last year, you’d probably want to stay home.

Western Powers Protect Arms Markets Ignoring Civilian Killings

By Thalif Deen
The West continues its strong political and military support to one of its longstanding allies in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia –- despite withering criticism of the kingdom’s battlefield excesses in the ongoing war in neighbouring Yemen.

TAIWAN: Polls Harken End of Nuclear Power

By Dennis Engbarth
Taiwan may soon be the first nation in Asia to resolve to become a nuclear free nation after four decades of reliance on nuclear power.

Cubans Want to Know When They Will Feel the Effects of Thaw with U.S.

By Patricia Grogg
While the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba is moving ahead, and the U.S. and Cuban flags have been proudly waving in Havana and Washington, respectively, since last July, the year gone by since the thaw has left many unanswered questions.

New Poll Highlights Need for Reform in the Middle East

By Derek Davison
A new public opinion survey undertaken in six Arab countries, Iran, and Turkey finds that people are more likely to blame “corrupt, repressive, and unrepresentative governments” and “religious figures and groups promoting extremist ideas and/or incorrect religious interpretations” for the rise of violent groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State than they are to blame “anger at the United States.”

Middle East Part II – 99.5 Years of (Imposed) Solitude

By Baher Kamal
One hundred years ago, on 6 May 1916, two men, Briton Sir Mark Sykes and French diplomat François Georges-Picot, were entrusted by their respective governments with a rather exceptional task.

The Over-Written, Under-Reported Middle East – Part I: Of Arabs and Muslims

By Baher Kamal
Of all over-written, under-reported issues and regions, the Middle East is perhaps one of the oldest, outstanding ones.

Did Argentina’s Elections Mark Start of Shift to the Right in South America?

By Mario Osava
Different degrees of economic problems are a common denominator in South American countries where governments that identify as leftist may start to fall, in a shift that began in Argentina and could continue among its neighbours to the north.

Opinion: From European Union to Just a Common Market

By Roberto Savio
The success in the recent Swiss elections of the UDC-SVP, a xenophobic, anti European Union, right wing party, opens a number of reflections.

Opinion: The Nuclear Deal’s Impact on Iranian Domestic and Foreign Policy

By Farhang Jahanpour
As in most countries, in Iran too there are hardliners and moderates. All polls show that a large majority of Iranians support the nuclear deal (or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 (the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, France and Germany), while a small but powerful group of hardliners opposes it. The Iranian parliament has finally approved the deal, but after a great deal of controversy and with some reservations.

United Arab Emirates and Cuba Forge Closer Ties

By Patricia Grogg
Cuba and the United Arab Emirates agreed to strengthen diplomatic ties and bilateral cooperation during an official visit to this Caribbean island nation by the UAE minister of foreign affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Human Rights Activists Condemn Houthi Militia’s Atrocities Against Women in Yemen

By Emirates News Agency (WAM)
(WAM) -- Arab and Yemeni human rights activist monitoring the civil war in Yemen say that women have been subjected to grave human right violations at the hands of the rebel Houthi militia and an allied insurgent group under the command of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Report Condemns Atrocities of Houthi Rebels in Yemen

By Emirates News Agency (WAM)
(WAM) - A new report from a human rights group operating in Yemen says that human rights violations have reached unprecedented levels, with more than 3,000 people murdered by the insurgent Houthi militia and its allies in Yemen.

Iran’s commitments under the Nuclear Treaty are just short of total surrender

By Farhang Jahanpour
Speaking about the framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme that was reached between Iran, the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States­ plus Germany) and the European Union, Joseph Cirincione, a leading nuclear expert and president of Ploughshares Fund, said:

The Rubicons That Have Been Crossed

By Farhang Jahanpour
In their attempts to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and Israel have resorted over time to a number of unorthodox, illegal and in some cases criminal methods to achieve their aims. They have included the following:

UAE Government Stresses its Abiding Support for Syrian Refugees

By Omar Salim
In response to suggestions that the Gulf states are doing littleor nothing to help Syrians fleeing their civil war, the Government of the United Arab Emirates has announced that it has take a broad range of supportive actions to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian population and to care for Syrian refugees in Syria and abroad, reports WAM.

Nuke Test Ban Treaty Still in Limbo, U.N. Complains

By Thalif Deen
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly back in 1996, has still not come into force for one primary reason: eight key countries have either refused to sign or have held back their ratifications.

Opinion: Iran and Nuclear Weapons, a Dangerous Delusion

By Farhang Jahanpour
Despite all the propaganda about the Iranian leaders’ rush to acquire nuclear weapons, ever since the start of the country’s nuclear programme, Iranian leaders have been adamant that they only wish to make peaceful use of the nuclear energy to which they are entitled as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

UAE Continues Relief to Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

By Emirates News Agency (WAM)
(WAM) - Under the directives of the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), efforts are underway to provide relief to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon. A strategic humanitarian plan has been put in place by the country which includes shelter to refugees closer to Lebanon in order to facilitate their return home when the crisis is over.

Campaign to End Nuclear Tests: Kazakhstan Launches ATOM E

By Kairat Abdrakhmanov
Despite United Nations General Assembly resolutions since 1946, calling for an end to lethal arsenal, the possession of nuclear weapons has continued to be a symbol of scientific sophistication or military power, until 29 August 1991, when Kazakhstan, upon gaining independence, closed its Nuclear Test Site in Semipalatinsk - the second largest in the world.
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