Foreign Policy Blogs

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Ending The Palestinian Holocaust

Ending The Palestinian Holocaust

Prominently written on history’s ‘gate of shame’ are these haunting words: Hubris never had a worse enemy than itself; you may ask these specialists: Hitler, Pharaoh, or perhaps Lucifer. So, the extreme arrogance and the above-all-laws attitude expressed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his apartheid regime committed war crimes and crimes against humanity […]

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“Isolation”: Donetsk’s Torture Prison

“Isolation”: Donetsk’s Torture Prison

The Russia-controlled East Ukrainian separatists have been operating a small concentration camp in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine, for more than six years now. Outside any regular jurisdiction, men and women are being physically and psychologically tormented on a daily basis, in ways reminiscent of Europe’s darkest times.

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Taiwan Is Latest Front In U.S.-China Ideological War

Taiwan Is Latest Front In U.S.-China Ideological War

Recent high-level diplomatic visits to Taiwan risk rupturing permanently the U.S.’ “One China” policy. This policy is the foundation of the U.S.-China peaceful relationship. As Taiwan is the most preeminent security issue in U.S.-China relations, a miscalculation from either side, leading to a military conflict cannot be entirely ruled out.

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Should Ukraine Conduct Local Elections along the Donbas Contact Line?

Should Ukraine Conduct Local Elections along the Donbas Contact Line?

Current military-civil administration in eastern Ukrainian frontline districts need to be kept in place and partially reformed. Should the Donets Basin return to Ukrainian control, they could provide institutional templates for a temporary special regime within the currently occupied territories. On October 25th this year, Ukraine will hold its first nation-wide local and regional elections […]

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How China is pushing Bangladesh away from India

How China is pushing Bangladesh away from India

After the skirmish along the Indian-Chinese border that killed 20 Indian soldiers, many Indian commentators are presently concerned that China is increasingly trying to push New Delhi’s allies away from India and towards them.  For example, the Hindu reported that these commentators described the zero-tariff agreement for 97% of the exports between Bangladesh and China […]

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A Shock Therapy for Somalia

A Shock Therapy for Somalia

It has been 60 years since the Italian Somaliland and the British Somaliland became independent from their respective colonial powers to form a union that miserably failed 30 years later. After a long ever-morphing saga of blood, destruction, and loss of identity Soomaalinimo (Somaliness), these two political entities, legally known as Somalia, have just concluded […]

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Why Post-Corona Russia Will Eventually Hand Crimea Back to Ukraine

Why Post-Corona Russia Will Eventually Hand Crimea Back to Ukraine

The enormous financial means that West Germany is still transferring to East Germany, 30 years after re-unification, suggest that Moscow’s grab of Crimea in 2014 has been an ill-calculated adventure. Sustaining over a long period of time the highly-subsidised economy of the annexed peninsula will be beyond the capacities of a more and more crisis-ridden […]

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The Coronavirus Crisis as a Critical Juncture for Ukraine and the World

The Coronavirus Crisis as a Critical Juncture for Ukraine and the World

by Pavlo Klimkin and Andreas Umland Deliberations on the political repercussions of the ongoing pandemic for international relations and Ukrainian foreign affairs In their seminal 2012 study Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, Daren Acemoglu and James A. Robinson identified the Bubonic Plague of 1346-1353 not only as one of the greatest […]

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Epoch of Post-Brexit: Britain turns attention to Africa

Epoch of Post-Brexit: Britain turns attention to Africa

Two important international events for Africa took place over the last 10 days of January 2020: the World Economic Forum in Davos and the UK- Africa Invest Summit. The first event stuck in memory only by Patrice Motsepe’s ‘Africa loves Trump’ comment. But the London summit gave fruitful results for both parties. Direct results of […]

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Iraqi human rights activist Al Hamadani praises elimination of Soleimani

Iraqi human rights activist Al Hamadani praises elimination of Soleimani

Iraqi human rights activist Ammar Al Hamadani is a strong supporter of the State of Israel and seeks the establishment of an Israeli Embassy in Baghdad.  He also supports compensation for Jewish refugees from Arab countries and has done much work in order to promote improved Israeli-Iraqi relations.  Given his strong sympathy for the Jewish […]

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Water Conflict in Africa: the Largest Hydroelectric Power Station Is the Bone of Contention Between Ethiopia and Egypt

Water Conflict in Africa: the Largest Hydroelectric Power Station Is the Bone of Contention Between Ethiopia and Egypt

Ethiopia has been building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile River since 2011. During this period relations between Egypt and Ethiopia became strained with mutual threats and accusations. Moreover, there is a risk of water conflict in Africa, which would completely destabilize East Africa. After construction, GERD will be the largest […]

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What It’s Like Being a Second Generation Refugee

What It’s Like Being a Second Generation Refugee

My earliest memories of Israel go back to the October 1973 war, a child, I already “knew” Israel is an invader in what was a sleepy part of planet earth. Despite radio and tv stations everywhere claiming Arab victories,  even then I knew this was fake news, kids know liars from their intonation. It’s hard […]

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Elections in Ireland by April 24?

Elections in Ireland by April 24?

Seamless border at risk:  on the left, County Armagh, NI, UK; on the right, County Louth, Republic of Ireland (Google Maps) The timing of elections in Ireland could be decided in early January The leaders of Ireland’s main political parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, will meet in early January to decide the date of […]

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2019 Review: Main Political Events in Africa

2019 Review: Main Political Events in Africa

Africa welcomed 2019 with reports about the coup in Gabon and ushered it out with elections in Guinea-Bissau. In the meantime, there have been enough challenges since January 2019. In order to analyze the main political events in Africa, they are divided into 5 categories: political situation and elections, security background, peace initiatives, regional integration […]

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Op-Ed: Where is the outrage over the plight of persecuted Christians?

Op-Ed: Where is the outrage over the plight of persecuted Christians?

  If one watches CNN, the Trump impeachment hearings and the British elections dominate headlines.  Next down on the list is the earthquake that recently struck Albania and global warming.  It as if with the collapse of the ISIS Caliphate, the world believes that Christians are no longer being persecuted and it is time to […]

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