Global Geopolitics

Afghan Families Want Accountability, Not Apologies

By Giuliano Battiston
The dusty cemetery in Saracha village hosts three new graves: small hills of soil shielding the bodies of Sahebullah, Wasihullah and Amanullah, three of the five boys and young men killed by an ISAF-NATO airstrike on late Friday, Oct. 4.

Iran Nuclear Deal May Have its Beginnings in Geneva

By Jasmin Ramsey
Talks between Iran and world powers known as the P5+1 over Iran’s nuclear programme wrapped up here Wednesday with expressions of encouragement and hope, a commitment to reconvene in just three weeks, and several welcomed “firsts”.

Grief Veils Eid for Syrian Refugees

By Rebecca Murray
This week the Islamic world marks one of its holiest holidays, Eid al-Adha - honouring Ibrahim’s commitment to sacrifice his first-born son to Allah. The festival involves large family gatherings, bountiful lunches and generous gift giving.

With Obama Away, the Chinese Play

By Richard Heydarian
As the U.S. struggles with a weeks-long government shutdown which has threatened the country’s economic recovery and forced President Barack Obama to cancel a series of high-stakes visits to Asia, China has instead taken the centre-stage, boosting ties with Asian neighbours and promising multi-billion trade and investment deals.

Israel and the Gulf Increasingly Nervous Over Iran-U.S. Détente

By Jim Lobe
As hopeful, albeit vague, statements about talks in Geneva between Iran and the great powers continued to issue from the Swiss city Tuesday, foes of détente between Washington and Tehran maintained their own high tempo of work.

Russia May Do Better Than its Nuclear Rhetoric

By Pavol Stracansky
Despite a seemingly entrenched resistance to change on its nuclear disarmament policy, the Kremlin’s recent initiative to get Syria to destroy its chemical weapons provides hope that Russia could play a more positive role in reducing the world’s global nuclear stockpiles, experts say.

Geneva Talks Open amid High Hopes in Iran

By Jasmin Ramsey
Iran offered a new proposal in much-anticipated talks over its nuclear programme here Tuesday in a meeting with the P5+1 negotiating team comprising the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, plus Germany.

Q&A: Mexico and the Rediscovery of South America

By Pablo Piacentini
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, known as the ‘moral leader’ of the Mexican left, said that his country and Central America “focus very much on the North” and should make a shift towards South America and its integration processes, in order to achieve less-dependent, alternative development conditions.

Giant Companies Pinpricked by ‘Direct Democracy’

By Ray Smith
A Swiss village has decided to reject tax money from the firm Glencore and to instead donate it to charities. Other towns may follow, sending a strong signal to the government to follow the U.S. and the EU and introduce transparency rules for the extractive industry.

Sicilian Town Opposes U.S. Transmitters

By Silvia Giannelli
Niscemi, with its 30,000 local residents and its white houses, is a typical southern Sicilian town. But it stands out not only for its ancient cork forest, but also for the Naval Radio Transmitter Facility located within the protected forest itself.

BOOKS: Containing Iran Is the “Least Bad Policy” for U.S.

By Heather Hurlburt
The day that the much-heralded new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 world powers opens might seem like the wrong day to pick up Unthinkable, Kenneth Pollack’s new exploration of what to do if talks fail.

Iran Talks to Resume Amid Guarded Optimism

By Jasmin Ramsey
Almost exactly four months after the election of Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, talks over the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear programme will resume here on Tuesday.

Mystery Attackers Hit Sinai

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
A period of more than three months since former president Mohamed Morsi's ouster by Egypt's powerful military establishment have been marked by almost daily attacks on Egyptian security personnel, especially in the restive Sinai Peninsula. The identity of the attackers remains a mystery.

Israeli Claim of Iranian ICBM Exploits Biased U.S. Intel

By Gareth Porter
In an effort to provoke any possible opposition in U.S. political circles to a nuclear deal with Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has returned to exploiting an old claim that Iran is building intercontinental ballistic missiles that could hit the United States.

Swat Not at Peace With Malala

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Back in Swat Valley in Pakistan where she comes from, Malala Yousafzai who had been tipped to win the Nobel peace prize this year, has not only left behind more girls in school now than there were a year ago but also large numbers of people who are now distanced – and even hostile – to her.

U.S. Suspends More Military Aid to Egypt, Arousing Scepticism

By Jim Lobe
The administration of President Barack Obama announced Wednesday it was freezing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Egyptian military pending "credible progress" toward a return to democratic rule.

Syrians Struggle with a Life of Sorts

By Shelly Kittleson
Free Syrian Army fighters stand guard over the state cable company premises to avoid looting in Khan Al-Assal, a district 14 kilometres west of Aleppo. Much of the rest of the place seems a nightmarish ghost town.

Neoconservatives Despair Over U.S.-Iran Diplomacy

By Jim Lobe
A week that began with a blistering denunciation by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Iranian duplicity ended with diminished prospects for Israel to take direct action to address Iran's nuclear capabilities.

European Union at the Crossroads

By Massimo D'Alema
"One of the fundamental contradictions is this: that whereas economic life has internationalism, or better still cosmopolitanism, as a necessary premise, state life has developed ever more in the direction of 'nationalism,' of 'self-sufficiency' and so on."

OP-ED: Bahrain Repression Continues Amid Sham Trials and Imprisonment

By Emile Nakhleh
The lengthy prison sentences handed down to 50 Shia activists last week and the refusal of Bahraini courts to hear their allegations of torture once again confirm the regime’s continued repression of the opposition.

Hope and Pessimism as Israelis and Palestinians Resume Talks

By Mitchell Plitnick
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators returned to the negotiating table on Thursday, ready to put claims by the United States that it will engage more forcefully in the negotiating process to the test.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*