Global Geopolitics

Making Peace with Our Futures

By Johan Galtung
Future studies, like peace-development-environment studies, is an interdisciplinary, international effort to get a grip on key issues, divided into ‘preferred futures’ – utopias – whose?; ‘predicted futures’ – forecasting – who does it, for whom?; and ‘future practice’ – scenarios bending the predicted toward the preferred – by and for whom?

Challenges and Opportunities Await Iran’s Rouhani

By Djavad Salehi-Isfahani
The transition team of Iran’s President-elect Hassan Rouhani was busy last week lowering expectations for a quick economic recovery, saying that things are far worse than they had thought.

Afghan Mission Not Quite Ending

By Paul Weinberg
NATO member countries like Canada will continue to be asked to shoulder the burden of a military mission stuck in Afghanistan because of the continued vulnerability of the Kabul-based government.

Imported Torture Haunts Poland

By Robert Stefanicki
The only sign of life at Szymany’s "international airport" are mosquitoes eager to suck blood out of a rare visitor. The gate is locked with a rusted chain and a padlock.

Advocates of Iran Engagement Get Unexpected Boost

By Jim Lobe
For the first time in many months, supporters of intensified diplomatic engagement with Iran appear to be gaining strength here.

Fight over NSA Spying Spills into U.S. Courts

By Matthew Charles Cardinale
A wide variety of individuals and organisations have filed lawsuits challenging the National Security Agency (NSA) and other federal agencies and officials for conducting a massive, dragnet spying operation on U.S. citizens that was recently confirmed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

BOOKS: Iran’s Coup, Then and Now

By Reyhaneh Noshiravani
Ervand Abrahamian, a leading historian of modern Iran, has recently explored the 1953 Anglo/American-sponsored coup that overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq.

OP-ED: Iran in the Era of Moderation and Reform

By Sahar Namazikhah
Do you expect a miracle from Rouhani? You are heading down the wrong road. Please take it easy!

Power Woos Critics with Pro-Israel Charm Offensive

By Mitchell Plitnick
Samantha Power, U.S. President Barack Obama’s nominee for the post of ambassador to the United Nations, made a strong case for her confirmation Wednesday with strong pro-Israel and interventionist statements that will appeal to many of the hawks in the U.S. Senate.

Egypt May Not go the Algeria Way

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
The ouster of Egypt's first freely elected president by the military has led some to warn of a possible Algeria-style civil war. Local analysts, however, dismiss the likelihood of the "Algeria scenario" occurring in Egypt.

Are Middle Class Protests Fallout from Poverty Alleviation?

By Thalif Deen
The rise of the "global middle class" is widely attributed to the gradual eradication of extreme poverty in the developing world, even as the United Nations says that millions of people in countries such as India, China and Brazil have graduated from the ranks of the indigent.

Brazil Wide Open to Cyber Invasion

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Brazil, reportedly one of the main targets of U.S. signals spying, is attempting to untangle a web of hi-tech espionage with low-tech equipment reminiscent of a novel by British author John le Carré.

Israel Resumes Threats Against Iran as Experts Urge Patience

By Jim Lobe
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resumed his threats to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, 29 former senior U.S. experts and foreign diplomats urged President Barack Obama to show greater flexibility in anticipated negotiations following the inauguration of President-elect Hassan Rouhani.

Q&A: Will the Iranian Nuclear Conflict Change With Rouhani?

By Jasmin Ramsey
The Jun. 14 election of Hassan Rouhani, nicknamed the "diplomatic sheik" during his service as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator from 2003-2005, to Iran's presidency was met with hopeful celebrations within the country but much cooler reactions from key world leaders.

Obama’s Many Middle East Miseries Multiply

By Jim Lobe
No doubt the administration of President Barack Obama had hoped that this week’s foreign policy news would be dominated by the high-level U.S.-China Strategic and Economic and Dialogue (S&ED) that just ended here Thursday.

Climate Change Takes Centre Stage in U.S.-China Talks

By Carey L. Biron
The United States and China have agreed on a suite of potentially far-reaching initiatives aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the world’s two largest economies and largest polluters.

Denial of Airspace to Bolivian Leader Resonates at U.N.

By Thalif Deen
The growing political uproar over the unlawful denial of European airspace for a jet carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales has spilled over into the United Nations.

No Evidence for Charge Iran Linked to JFK Terror Plot

By Gareth Porter
Alberto Nisman, the Argentine prosecutor who was prevented by Argentine President Cristina Kirchner from testifying before a U.S. House subcommittee investigating alleged Iranian terrorist networks in the Americas here this week, claimed in a recent report that Tehran was involved in a 2007 plot to blow up fuel tanks at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.

Afghanistan Faces Slim Chance of Post-Occupation Peace Deal

By Jared Metzker
The prospects for a peace settlement and power-sharing in Afghanistan following the scheduled U.S.-led troop withdrawal in 2014 are grim, according to a report presented here Monday.

OP-ED: Islam Is Not the Solution to What Ails the Middle East

By Barbara Slavin
During the decades when Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood was a barely tolerated opposition party, it campaigned against the reigning secular autocrats under the banner “Islam is the solution.”

Civil Society Fears Taliban Return

By Giuliano Battiston
While United States President Barack Obama and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai scramble to solidify a peace process ahead of the 2014 withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan, fears that the Taliban will use the drawdown to seize power hang like a dark cloud over civil society.
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