Perhaps it was the difficult economic conditions at home, or because of the unpopular decisions that risks making President Putin the man of the elite rather than the man of the people, but what was clear to see in his annual press conference on 17 December was the Putin...
The coalition government in the United Kingdom during the years 2010-2015 had a cautious approach to Iraq and later Syria. The legacy of the invasion in 2003 and the Bush/Blair alliance led to the UK public being averse to foreign intervention, and the financial crisis of 2008 meant that...
Back in 2002, Osama Bin Laden wrote in a letter addressed to Taliban leader Mullah Omar ‘the media war in this century is obviously one of the strongest methods; in fact, its ratio may reach 90% of the total preparation for the battles’. Three years later, his successor Al...
Yassin Majeed, Researcher and writer in regional affairs
Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Iran on the 23rd of November 2015 is considered an exceptional political event in light of international and regional transformations. What increased the importance of the visit, which is the second visit of President Putin to...
The EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CSFP) is chaired and represented by the High Representative, who embodies a unified, common voice for otherwise disparate EU member states. The High Representative is assisted by the European External Action Service (EEAS), a structurally and financially independent arm which ensures consistency across the different activities the EU performs abroad through its numerous arms with external...
The civil war in Syria has exceeded its fourth year, as the conflict continues bloodier, crueller and destructive than before. No indications in the horizon to the Syrians and the world, the fate of things in the country, and its fate, or which is the party that will be...
As the final quarter of the year approaches the Budget Office in the Finance Ministry is preparing the framework document which the final budget will be based on. There is no doubt that the budget will again have a deficit as the government continues to struggle to reduce expenditure...
The next President of the United States will take office in January 2017 and will likely preside over a “make-or-break” moment in U.S.-Iraqi relations. The presidential contenders will all advocate a more aggressive campaign against Da’esh in Iraq and most of them support an effort to reduce Iranian influence in Iraq as well,...
