Global Geopolitics

China Muscles into Kyrgyzstan’s Energy Market, Fueling Suspicion

By Chris Rickleton
China is financing the construction of Kyrgyzstan’s first major oil refinery, and excitement is building in Bishkek that the facility could enable the Central Asian nation to break Russia’s fuel-supply monopoly.

Syrian Delegates Push for Peaceful Resolution of Conflict

By Elizabeth Yousefi
Amidst ongoing violence between the Syrian regime and opposition forces, and serious international discourse on arming the opposition, some Syrian civil society leaders are insisting upon a non-violent approach toward conflict resolution.

Palestinians Prepare a Bitter Welcome for Obama

By Mel Frykberg
The rumbling drone of a fleet of U.S. helicopters carrying security and administrative personnel could be heard long before the eight choppers came into view over the Ramallah horizon on their way to the Palestinian Authority  (PA) presidential compound in the West Bank de facto capital Ramallah.

Hawks Defend War on Low-Key 10th Anniversary of Iraq Invasion

By Jim Lobe
Ten years after President George W. Bush launched his “shock and awe” campaign to overwhelm Iraq – and the rest of the world – with the futility of resisting Washington’s military might, the public and much of the foreign policy elite appear remarkably uninterested in marking the anniversary, let alone assessing the results.

Iraq Once More on the Brink of War

By Karlos Zurutuza
Driving into the city of Kirkuk, one is greeted by the view of a huge sea of grey concrete houses from which laundry has been hung out to dry in the wind and be blackened by smoke rising from the surrounding oil wells.

Latin American Integration, Post-Chávez

By Roberto Savio
What is Hugo Chávez's legacy to Latin America? The best way to evaluate a head of state is to examine what is left behind after his or her death. In the case of Chávez, his image is obscured by a series of ideological and cultural prejudices that hide a clear perception of who he was.

Past Netanyahu, Obama Looks at Israeli People

By Pierre Klochendler
U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Israel on Wednesday, his first destination abroad of his second term, to pay a visit to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whose own second consecutive term will have started only 48 hours beforehand. No wonder that the true purpose of the U.S. President’s visit is defined as reaching out to the Israeli people.

Low Expectations Colour Obama’s Israel Trip

By Mitchell Plitnick
With Barack Obama set to travel on his first trip to Israel as president, expectations for a major breakthrough on the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” are low to nonexistent.

China Outsells UK in World’s Lucrative Arms Bazaar

By Thalif Deen
After ranking ahead of Japan as the world's second largest economy, China has reached another milestone: displacing the UK as the world's fifth largest arms supplier.

Ten Years After Iraq War, Neo-Cons Struggle to Hold Republicans

By Jim Lobe
Ten years after reaching the height of their influence with the invasion of Iraq, the neo-conservatives and other right-wing hawks are fighting hard to retain their control of the Republican Party.

European Commission Bankrolls Anti-Immigrant Policies

By Apostolis Fotiadis
As fighting rages on throughout Syria, civilian families desperate to escape are fleeing west to Greece.

OP-ED: Stability Will Mark Post-Chávez Venezuela

By Adrián Bonilla
Although there is plenty of speculation about what will happen now President Hugo Chávez is gone, the likelihood of change in Venezuelan politics and society is low.

Latin America and Caribbean Won’t Lose Oil Aid from Venezuela

By Marianela Jarroud
Venezuela will keep in place the regional energy integration policies promoted by the late president Hugo Chávez if he is succeeded by acting president Nicolás Maduro, experts on regional relations told IPS.

Pak-Iran Pipeline Carries Energy and Defiance

By Richard Heydarian
After almost two decades of non-stop negotiations, and two years of intense U.S. opposition, the much-delayed and controversial 7.5 billion dollar Iran-Pakistan pipeline is well on its track to full operation in the next 15 months.

U.S. Intelligence Sees Cyber Threats Eclipsing Terrorism

By Jim Lobe
Cyber threats appear to have largely replaced terrorism as posing the greatest risks to U.S. national security, which also confronts major longer-term challenges from the effects of natural resource shortages and climate change, according to the latest in a series of annual threat assessments by the U.S. intelligence community.

No Surprise in Malvinas/Falklands Referendum

By Marcela Valente
The people of the Malvinas/Falkland islands voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to keep British rule, while Argentina has stepped up its claims to sovereignty over the South Atlantic archipelago located 450 km east of the South American nation.

Thailand Negotiating ‘Worrying’ Deal With EU

By A. D. McKenzie
The negotiations launched this week for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Thailand and the European Union have raised concerns among both Thai and European non-governmental organisations, who fear that EU demands could have a negative impact on Thailand’s progressive public health policies.

U.S. “Rebalancing” to Asia/Pacific Still a Priority

By Jim Lobe
Amidst growing tensions with North Korea and, to a lesser extent, China, the White House Monday insisted that its “re-balancing” toward the Asia/Pacific remained on track and that Washington is fully committed to its allies there, especially Japan and South Korea.

Anti-Nuke Movement Goes to the Gulf

By Baher Kamal
After a week of activities in Oslo during the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, major anti-nuclear campaigners moved Monday to the Bahraini capital, Manama, in yet another step towards the abolition of atomic weapons.

OP-ED: Chávez’s Legacy

By Clara Nieto
The world has been shaken by the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, one of the most influential Latin American leaders in recent decades, as well as one of the most controversial and maligned figures on the planet.

Tehran Mulls Almaty II Amid Hopes for More Give and Take

By Farideh Farhi
The meeting between Iran and the so-called P5+1 (five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany) that took place in late February in Almaty, Kazakhstan was described as positive and even a "turning point" by Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili.
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