Global Geopolitics

Hope, Scepticism Over U.S.-Russian Accord on Syria Conference

By Jim Lobe
The surprise accord reached by the U.S. and Russia in Moscow Tuesday to try to convene an international conference to resolve the two-year-old civil war in Syria as soon as the end of this month has been greeted with equal measures of hope and scepticism.

Decade After Iraq, Right-Wing and Liberal Hawks Reunite Over Syria

By Jim Lobe
Ten years after right-wing and liberal hawks came together to push the U.S. into invading Iraq, key members of the two groups appear to be reuniting behind stronger U.S. military intervention in Syria.

Europe Urged to Step into Breach of Failed Mideast Peace

By Mitchell Plitnick
The Oslo peace process has failed and Europe must take stronger leadership in the Middle East, according to a distinguished group of former European leaders that is pushing for a stronger and more independent European stance on the Israeli occupation.

U.N. Accused of Playing Down Nuke Disarmament Conference

By Thalif Deen
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is one of the most vociferous advocates of a world free of nuclear weapons.

Austerity is Dismantling the European Dream

By Roberto Savio
The European Union (EU) has asked its citizens to brace for further economic misery. In a report on European economic prospects released on May 3, the European Commission said that further deterioration is expected to last at least until 2015. But, as every such report says, things will then get better.

Obama Seen Unlikely to Sharply Escalate Intervention in Syria

By Jim Lobe
Despite renewed pressure by hawks in Congress and the media, U.S. President Barack Obama appears determined to avoid sharply escalating U.S. involvement in the ongoing civil war in Syria.

The West Disappoints Azerbaijan Government Critics

By Shahin Abbasov
Democratisation activists in Azerbaijan are increasingly pessimistic about what they describe as the West’s lack of support for reform and the protection of basic rights in the energy-rich South Caucasus country.

Rohingyas At Home and Nowhere

By Simba Shani Kamaria Russeau
Rendered the nowhere people in their own homeland, thousands of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are fleeing inhuman living conditions, lack of humanitarian aid and rising sectarian tensions in their country. And the very state that is supposed to protect them now stands accused of ‘ethnic cleansing’.

Azerbaijan’s Israel Diplomatic Trip Tweaks Tehran

By Shahin Abbasov
Azerbaijan in late April crossed a self-imposed “red line” in its relations with southern neighbour Iran by dispatching Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on a visit to Israel, Tehran’s arch-foe. Reasons for the timing of the move are not clear, but, so far, Tehran appears to be biding its time with a response.

Japan’s Aid Programme Takes a Selfish Turn

By Suvendrini Kakuchi
As Japan slips from its former top spot as the world’s biggest donor, experts here are worried about long-term changes in the country’s development assistance programme, which has played a crucial role in global poverty reduction efforts.

As Hunger Strike Spreads, Obama Again Denounces Guantanamo

By Jim Lobe
With at least 100 detainees now participating in a three-month-old hunger strike, U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday reiterated his earlier denunciations of the Guantanamo detention facility and blamed Congress for preventing its closure.

Myanmar Report on Anti-Rohingya Violence Skewed Toward Security

By Carey L. Biron
A long-awaited official report on last year’s sectarian violence in western Myanmar is being heavily disparaged by human rights and advocacy groups here, who say a government-backed commission has placed undue emphasis on strengthening security while almost completely ignoring issues of discrimination and accountability.

WTO, Dubious Prize for a Latin American?

By Gustavo Capdevila
The complicated challenge of invigorating the debilitated World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the multilateral trade system that it governs will fall, for the next four years and for the first time ever, to a Latin American.

Some Hear Death Knell for a Two-State Solution

By Mitchell Plitnick
Despite indications that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is committing a substantial amount of time and effort to revive the long-stalled Israel-Palestinian “peace process", a growing number of experts believe a two-state solution is no longer viable and the lack of a realistic discussion of the issue in the United States is leaving the country without an alternative policy.

OP-ED: How Bin Ladin’s Jihadist Message Continues to Lure the Vulnerable

By Emile Nakhleh
The surviving Boston Marathon bomber reportedly told authorities the U.S. “war on Islam” drove him and his brother to commit their terrorist act. Their linking the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a perceived global war on Islam is at the heart of the Jihadist message Bin Ladin and Al-Qaeda issued to the Muslim world almost two decades ago.

Bedouin Resist Israeli Shove

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
Dozens of metal and wooden tents cling to the rocky hillside, just outside of Jerusalem along the road leading to the Dead Sea, while the unmistakable red roofs of Israeli settlements peak out from behind opposite hilltops.

Spring Brings Worse for Shias

By Cam McGrath
The mob that surrounded the home of Mohamed Nour, an Egyptian Shia living in Cairo’s Bab El-Shaariya district, claimed it was on a mission to “inoculate” Egypt against Shia religious beliefs. Without intervention, Shia doctrine would spread across Egypt “like a cancer,” they had warned.

White House Letter Fuels U.S. Involvement in Syria Debate

By Jasmin Ramsey
A White House letter Thursday to Congressional leaders suggesting chemical weapons use by the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad has reignited debate about direct U.S. military involvement in the war-torn country.

BOOKS: A History of the Search for Justice in the Middle East

By Barbara Slavin
It’s no wonder that Egypt has floundered in its efforts to create a more democratic system from the ruins of the Mubarak regime.

U.S., Others Wrangle over Future Arctic Governance

By Joe Hitchon
With climate change rapidly opening up new opportunities for shipping and resource extraction across the once permanently frozen Arctic, the United States and other northern countries are being compelled to re-examine their policies, both national and collective, towards this region of growing geostrategic importance.

Palestinians Fight Unlawful Deportation

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
Hind Ibrahim Abeyat has spent most of her life separated from her father. “Every house in Palestine has something – someone in prison, a martyr,” the 19-year-old told IPS from her family home in Abeyat village, near Bethlehem.
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