What Brexit Means
For decades, the United Kingdom has had an ambivalent and sometimes contentious relationship with the European Union. London has kept its distance from Brussels’s authority by negotiating opt-outs from some of the EU’s central policies, including the common euro currency and the border-free Schengen…
How Muslim Extremists Exploit European Liberalism
Coming on the heels of the Manchester terror attack targeting British youth, the recent terrorist act in London is the last in a series of attacks across Europe that displayed the eerie savagery of violence carried out in the name of Islam. The Islamic State claimed credit and proclaimed t…
Shadowy rebels extend Myanmar’s wars
he stirring soundtrack of the video ‘Dream in Our Heart’ is accompanied by statements of defiance by ethnic Rakhine soldiers, male and female, of the Arakan Army (AA) from their mountain redoubt in Myanmar’s northern Kachin State. Army commander Major General Twan Mrat Naing (aka Tun Myat Naing) spe…
Tehran Terrorist Attacks Risk Unleashing All-Out War Between Iran And Saudi Arabia
Iran’s parliament and the shrine of its revolutionary father were the targets Wednesday of what appears to be the Islamic State militant group’s first major attack on Iranian soil. In an operation that seemed to require a level of coordination not often typical of ISIS attacks in the …
SPY VS. SPY The Game Is Afoot
In a 1932 article for the American Historical Review, the legendary maritime historian Robert G. Albion commented on the then-ongoing “communications revolution,” which in his view “has knit the world closer together…widened the horizons of every community, partly through the rapid di…
A look at what a hung Parliament means for Britain
Britain’s general election has ended with no party winning an outright majority, bringing the second so-called hung Parliament in the last three elections. Here are a few questions over what it means and its implications for the country. QUESTION: WHAT IS A HUNG PARLIAMENT? Answer: It’s an unusual s…
How Vienna produced ideas that shaped the West
ACROSS the cobbles of Vienna’s Michaelerplatz the world of empires, waltzes and mutton-chop whiskers glowers at the modern age of psychoanalysis, atonal music and clean shaves. In one corner, the monumental, neo-baroque entrance to the Hofburg palace, seat of the Habsburgs; in the other, the Looshau…
The Berlin attack proves Tunisia, the single success of the Arab Spring, is yet to overcome its past
Another terrorist attack in Europe brings more alarmed finger-pointing at Tunisia. Have we entirely misread the story of the small Mediterranean nation whose people’s bold protests for dignity and social justice sparked the Arab Spring six years ago? It is a deeply troubling puzzle. H…
How Europe can deliver on energy efficiency
The European Commission’s recently released Clean Energy Package, has a 2030 target of 30% energy savings. An important policy instrument to deliver these are Energy Efficiency Obligation (EEO) schemes. According to new research from the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), not only are EEOs a highl…
Turkey and Russia: Envoy’s Murder Will Bend Relationship, Not Break It
Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was shot and killed Dec. 19 at an art exhibition in Ankara, where he was delivering a public address. Turkish security forces subsequently killed the gunman, reported to be Mert Altintas, a member of the special forces department of the Turkish National Pol…