Categories
Israel-Palestine War

Rafah Bloodbath Or Sudden Truce? The Last Temptation Of Benjamin Netanyahu

The Israeli prime minister has foreign and domestic pressure to accept a ceasefire deal, but he may be set to make the bloodiest decision of the war to date in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Categories
Israel-Palestine War

“Proxy War” Armies Of The Middle East? Just A New Way To Say Gangsters And Cartels

The Middle East’s militant and terror gangs, often described as Iran’s proxy forces, may have more in common with the cartels of a globalized war than with the fighters with a cause, more typical in the 20th century.

Categories
Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

A New Ukraine? How Georgia Has Been Swept Into Russia-Europe Power Struggle

Demonstrations suppressed by the forces of order are taking place daily in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi around a draft law on “foreign interests”, considered by the protesters to be a “Russian law.” At stake is Georgia’s future, between the European Union and Putin’s Russia.

Categories
Geopolitics Israel-Palestine War

Another Ceasefire Rejected? Why Gaza War Is Good For Netanyahu — And Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders both have deeply cynical reasons to prolong hostilities. Meanwhile, it’s in the self-interest of both the U.S. and Arab regimes to try all avenues to broker a ceasefire to ease the suffering of those caught in the crossfire.

Categories
Geopolitics Society

“Our Europe Can Die”: Macron Goes Full Alarmist On Existential Threat To The EU

In an ominous speech in Paris, the French president warned that Europe is in mortal danger. Macron also suggested he may be just the man to save it.

Categories
Geopolitics Society

50 Years Of Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution” — It All Began In Africa

It all started on April 25, 1974, when some frustrated military officers — who had seen with their own eyes the effects of colonization in Western Africa — decided to overthrow the military regime. And over the past half-century, Portugal has gone from an archaic dictatorship to bona fide cool corner of the Western world.

Categories
Economy Geopolitics

What Record Spending On Weapons Means In A World Where The Next War May Be Virtual

Governments spent 2.3 trilllion euros on the military, a 6% increase over 2022, the highest growth recorded in over a decade. This is the first time spending jumps were registered on all five continents, and not just countries at war. What does it say about this inflection point in history?

Categories
Geopolitics

U.S.-Egypt: How Relations Could Change With A Trump Return To The White House

Will former U.S. President Donald Trump maintain his “dealmaker” approach towards Egypt in case he finds his way back to the White House?

Categories
Geopolitics

Iran-Russia-China: Axis Of Evil Or Alliance Of Convenience?

What are the links between Iran and the two powers challenging the Western order, Russia and China? And how do their relations affect the international climate? This is a key question at a time when the logic of war is at work in several regions of the world.

Categories
Society Women Worldwide

“Most Views”: In This Egyptian Series, TikTok Girls Pay The Price Of Preaching

While “Most Views” which aired in Egypt during the month of Ramadan is credited with showing poverty in the country, the drama series misses an important opportunity to address the root causes of the TikTok girl trend.

Categories
Israel-Palestine War

How The Killing Of “White” Aid Workers Has Pushed Israel Into A Corner

After Israel’s military killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen — including six foreigners —, its closest allies in the West revolted. Some threatened to stop supplying Israel’s war machine. The Arab countries, meanwhile, are still taking the position of “concerned observer” of Israel’s killing of over 33,000 Palestinians, two thirds of them women and children.

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas Russia-Ukraine War

His Own Personal Jesus: Is Putin’s Piety Just A Ploy For Power?

Geopolitical analysts who view Russia as an unpredictable force tend to understand Moscow’s actions in purely worldly, political terms. German Professor of Theology Hubertus Lutterbach has uncovered a different message hidden in Putin’s religiosity — an implicit threat to his neighbors and the world.

Categories
Israel-Palestine War

Rafah’s Destiny: A Border City Split In Two, Pawn Of A Poisoned Land

Rafah’s modern tragedy began with the U.S.-brokered Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The misery brought on then peaked in 2014 with the forced displacement of the Egyptian city’s residents, and is now suffering more than ever as Israel vows to invade Rafah as part of its war on Gaza.

Categories
Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Are Rising France-Russia Tensions A Security Threat For The Paris Olympics?

A telephone call between French and Russian defense ministers on Wednesday gave rise to Russian accusations and threats against France. The terrorist risk shared by the two countries did not allow the slightest progress to be made: this is worrying just a few months before the Paris Olympic Games.

Categories
Israel-Palestine War

NGO Killings Trigger New Accusations Of Israel “Weaponizing Food” In Gaza

The Israeli drone strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza has set off an international outcry. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reaction was a reminder that cutting off humanitarian aid has been part of the strategy from the start of the war in Gaza.

Categories
Israel-Palestine War

October 7 And The Gaza War: A Double Godsend For Political Islam

Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza have given Islamists new momentum and a new outlook on their recent political setbacks.

Categories
Geopolitics

Russia’s UN Veto On North Korean Sanctions, A New Blow To International Order

Moscow “killed” the body charged with overseeing the sanctions regime against North Korea — now Putin’s ally against Ukraine — dealing yet another blow to the edifice of global governance inherited from the post-war era.

Categories
Geopolitics

Senegal Elections: Has France Finally Learned Its Lesson In Françafrique?

The surprise election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye appears to be a wakeup call for French President Emmanuel Macron.

Categories
Geopolitics Israel-Palestine War

U.S. And UN: The Abstention That Could Change The Course Of The War In Gaza

By abstaining from a UN resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Washington has not only angered Benjamin Netanyahu — it has potentially altered the dynamics of the whole Israel-Hamas war.

Categories
Geopolitics Israel-Palestine War

U.S.-Israel Relations Face A Bonafide Moment Of Truth

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just as Washington has submitted a stunning resolution at the UN pressuring Israel into a ceasefire. But is there a way out?

Categories
Future Geopolitics

Elon Musk And The Tech Right: Trump’s Indispensable Allies For November

The American billionaire and founder of Tesla and SpaceX is increasingly openly supporting the ideas of the radical right and Donald Trump. Long gone are the days when Silicon Valley voted Democrat: Elon Musk is the embodiment of this openly self-assured “tech right”.

Categories
Geopolitics

Bashar Al-Assad’s Security Shake-Up Is A Slap In The Face To His Late Father

Recent changes in Syria’s security apparatus are yet another step in President Bashar al-Assad’s years-long effort to escape the shadow of his father and predecessor, Hafez al-Assad, more than two decades after his death.

Categories
Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Macron, From “Don’t Humiliate Russia” To West’s No. 1 Hawk On Ukraine War

The French President has lost all hope in reasoning with Putin, hardening his tone toward Moscow after trying to position himself at the outset as a mediating force.

Categories
Israel-Palestine War

Israel’s Not Alone: The Other Middle East Players Blocking A Gaza Truce

Famine creeps into Gaza, one could expect a certain pragmatism would push influential countries in the region to intervene. Yet each of these countries has its own political agenda.

Categories
Geopolitics

Lula vs. Bolsonaro, Brazil Has Its Own Dark Sequel Brewing

Uncertain economic conditions and divisive posturing in favor of the Global South may send Brazilian President Lula da Silva’s middle class voters back to the Right, where his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro is maneuvering between criminal charges and a return to the presidency.

Categories
Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

The Biden-Trump Rematch, European Nightmares And Macron’s “Cowardice” Warning

After Super Tuesday, Americans (and the world) are now virtually assured of another Biden-Trump showdown in November. It’s a chilling reminder to Europe that their fate is tied too closely to the whims of U.S. politics.

Categories
Israel-Palestine War

The United Nations And Israel: It’s Complicated

Tensions continue to rise between the UN and Israel, despite the publication of a UN report confirming Hamas’s accusations of sexual violence on October 7. It’s a long history of mistrust which has resurfaced in the current crisis.

Categories
Russia-Ukraine War

Putin’s Nuclear Threats: Is This Time Different?

Three days after Emmanuel Macron’s statement on deploying troops to Ukraine, Putin warned that such a move could provoke nuclear war. It’s a serious threat that has regularly resurfaced over the past two years. So far, we’re all still here.

Categories
Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Are We Ready For War With Russia? The Unspoken Question The West Must Face

French President Emmanuel Macron crossed a line, at least rhetorically, in saying that the West doesn’t exclude sending troops to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia. Yet it may be time for the Western alliance to acknowledge that they’ve actually entered direct conflict with Moscow long before.

Categories
Geopolitics

Maduro Makes A Mockery Of Democracy — And Latin America’s Left Goes Along For The Ride

With a sham court ruling, Venezuela’s President Maduro has paved the way for his unchallenged reelection as president this year, regardless of U.S. sanctions. This is happening as Latin America’s leftist governments, notably Brazil, watch in silence.

Categories
Russia-Ukraine War War in Ukraine

Good Putin, Bad Vlad? Unpacking A False Rags-To-Evil Narrative

Look back over the past two decades, and you’ll see Vladimir Putin has always been the man revealed by the Ukraine invasion, an evil and sinister dictator. The Russian leader just manages to mask it well.

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas

Germany To India, A Debunking Of The “People’s Party” Sham Of Right-Wing Populists

As the far-right propagates a simplified and emotionally resonant message, the lack of coordination and a shared vision among the “non-far-right” strengthens the far-right’s illusion of representing the entirety of “the people.”

Categories
Economy Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

Why Biden May Be Just As Bad For U.S.-Mexico Trade As Trump

U.S. President Biden has quietly turned his Republican predecessor’s anti-foreign posturing into economic policies that strongly favor domestic manufacturing. Does Mexico, which depends on massive exports to the U.S., have anything to look forward to in the upcoming presidential elections?

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas

Israel’s Fifth War — For Its Blood, And Soul

There are very real risks that this conflict may expand and re-shape the entire region. Israel appears to have the means to win on the battlefield, but risks losing along the way the very principles of justice on which it was founded.

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas

Where Imperialism Goes To Die: Lessons From Afghanistan To Ukraine

With multilateral diplomacy in tatters, the fighting gumption of weaker states against aggression by bigger powers is helping end the age of empires.

Categories
Eyes on the U.S. special series

How Trump’s Legal Troubles Look In Places Where Presidents Get Prosecuted

-Analysis- What do South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Italy, France, Portugal, and Iceland all have in common? They’re all wealthy democracies that have charged and prosecuted former heads of state or heads of government for criminal acts committed while in office. The United States is not a member of this club — at least, not yet. […]

Categories
Eyes on the U.S. special series

Eyes On U.S. — When African Leaders Go To Washington, China Is In The Room

-Analysis- Some 100 of the most important political eyes in Africa aren’t turned towards the U.S. this week — they’re in the U.S. For the first time in eight years, the White House is hosting 49 African heads of state and leaders of government (and the Senegalese head of the African Union) for a U.S.-Africa […]

Categories
Eyes on the U.S. Green Or Gone special series

Eyes On U.S. — How White House Climate Action Could Spark A Global Trade War

-Analysis- When the U.S. Congress passed the Biden administration’s landmark “green” spending bill in August, environmentalists around the world saw it as a very strong — and long overdue — step in the right direction on climate change. For years, the European Union’s far more stringent environmental regulations have produced a more carbon-efficient economy and […]

Categories
In The News

Eyes On U.S. — Thanksgiving Gone Global, Black Friday Bad Influence

PARIS — The city of lights is littered with advertisements for “Black Friday” deals. Of course, virtually none of the city’s residents will celebrate Thanksgiving — and few probably even know that the traditional Friday shopping day is linked to the uniquely American (always-on-Thursday) holiday. To receive Eyes on U.S. each week in your inbox, […]

Categories
In The News

Notes From The Front: How The Russian Army Is Rotting From Within

The deteriorating conditions among Russia’s front line troops, chronicled by a handful of foot soldiers who have spoken out, may explain why Ukraine’s recent counter-assault has been so successful.

Exit mobile version