Dossier articles from the past 3 months
March 2021 will mark the tenth anniversary of the Syrian war. The bulk of the fighting ended in 2017, but Syria continues to suffer. The people, those outside Damascus and Latakia especially, live on the edge of famine, and the country is completely devastated. No reconstruction has occurred, and half the population has been displaced.…
Read moreThe definition of civil war has never quite applied in the case of Syria. Ever since the armed insurrection against the Assad government began in 2011, it has never been a clear case of insurgents fighting against the ‘regime’. Rather, the war quickly degenerated into a series of ethnic, confessional and national conflicts of which…
Read moreThe Russians are the ones who, having taken a direct military role alongside Damascus in 2015, have done most to defeat ISIS and perhaps, more importantly, the other rebel forces. The Turks will want to ensure that they can maintain a military presence in northern Syria to watch over Kurdish separatist ambitions. Israel keeps the…
Read moreOn 6 March 2011, a group of teenagers wrote anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Dara’a, a Sunni-majority city in the south of the country, suffering from a long drought and poor harvests. During the following days, the regime reacted with arrests and one of the students was found dead. But instead of fear,…
Read moreThe Black Sea, besides being a transit zone for oil, is rich in energy deposits which caused it to be defined as ‘The New North Sea’. The exploration of these resources has accelerated in the past decade due to advances in technology that enabled the limits imposed by the presence of underlying geological risks and…
Read moreA further crucial element in the balance of power in the Black Sea is that of the control of the straits of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. In past centuries, these passages represented the largest prize in the geopolitical confrontation between Russia and Turkey. On the basis of the Montreux Convention of 1936, passage through…
Read moreThe Black Sea is situated in the centre of the vast geographical area that runs from the Adriatic to the Caspian Sea. Together with the Maghreb, the Mashreq and the Balkans, it constitutes one of the sub-regions of the Mediterranean Sea. The different strategic priorities of the countries facing the basin with their heterogeneous historical…
Read moreIt was the conflict that broke out between Russia and Georgia in 2008 that challenged the balance of power imposed by the United States in the area of the Black Sea. Georgia, after winning independence in 1991, adopted a pro-western stance with the aim of joining the North Atlantic Treaty. This induced Tbilisi to promote…
Read moreCrisis in the economy, public health and the environment. Six countries will go to the polls to elect their presidents. Will the Bolivia effect lead to new scenarios in the continent? Many unknowns. Latin America, together with the rest of the world, is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic that has badly affected the region already sorely…
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How to confront the consequences of Covid-19 as they affect the countries of Asia. China will continue its domination on the various international chessboards. India joins the Security Council. Meanwhile, the Olympics are to be held in Japan. The management of the first phases of the epidemic and the ambiguity that followed it concerning the…
Read moreClouds appear on the horizon in Sahel and forthcoming elections in several parts of the continent may contribute alongside with the economic crisis aggravated by the Covid 19 pandemic to raise tensions. The deteriorating security situation in the Sahel region and more particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger is the main concern in West…
Read moreSocio-economic tensions rise but the COVID Pandemic buys time for governments under pressure. Tension between Ankara and Cairo. There are two lenses through which to frame prospects for the Middle East in 2021: the results of the U.S. election and the Abraham Accords that established the framework for diplomatic relations between Israel and the Persian…
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She played a key role in a campaign that challenged a corrupt waste trafficking scheme between Italy and Tunisia, resulting in the return of 6,000…
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The Black and white swallow flew high up in the clear, blue sky, wheeling and diving, his fast, pointed wings carrying him at a great speed. Swallow…
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Welcoming, listening and guiding. Some characteristics of Pope Leo with the youth During the years when Father Robert Francis Prevost was pastor of the church of Our…
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