Month: September 2024

The Geopolitical Implications of Libya’s Intractable Crisis

The ongoing rift between political leaders in eastern and western Libya briefly roiled the oil market last week, as both sides seek to control the state’s assets to further their objectives.

As has been the case in several regional countries, United Nations, U.S., European, and other mediators have failed to persuade rival factions to implement a roadmap to forge a unified political and security structure.

Libya’s political crisis has provided opportunity for regional and global actors to empower Libyan factions to advance their agendas.

Iranian Newspaper Predicts: Assad Government Will Collapse due to Russia’s Loss

The newspaper said Russia is expected to be the losing side in the Ukraine war, according to Syria TV.

In a report titled “The Syrian Scenario of Russia,” the reformist Iranian newspaper Aftab News highlighted the accelerating regional and international events and their negative economic and geopolitical repercussions on Putin, Assad, and Tehran. The report suggests that these repercussions could negatively impact the extent and nature of Iran’s decade-long support for Assad and might lead to Russia’s defeat in the international war unfolding in Ukraine.

Opposition Meets with Turkish Officials in Gaziantep: What Consequences?

Regarding the reopening of the Abu al-Zindeen crossing, the Turkish intelligence service representative clarified that the decision was purely commercial, unrelated to any political agenda, Damas Post writes.

A significant meeting of Syrian opposition forces, organized by the Turkish intelligence service and attended by representatives from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, took place on Tuesday in Gaziantep province.

No direction home: What broke the Levant, and can it be fixed?

Returns

After 11 years in the United States, I was flying back to the land I called home. Beirut airport was its usual busy and chaotic self, but my fellow passengers and I all got through passport control and baggage claim with surprising efficiency. The hot and humid air, scented by the nearby Mediterranean, hit me as I walked out of the terminal. Expecting a grim mood, I was instead greeted by the festive drum and reed flute fanfare for a young man just returning from Hajj or preparing for a wedding — I could not tell which.

Weekly Briefing: The Biden administration discusses a “take it or leave it” cease-fire proposal

The Biden administration discusses a “take it or leave it” cease-fire proposal

Brian Katulis
Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy
Brian Katulis

The murder of six Israeli hostages in Gaza more than three months after Biden released his cease-fire plan demonstrates the limits of the administration’s policy approach.

Biden may try to use the moment to get Israel and Hamas to end months of negotiations and achieve a cease-fire, but the odds of a successful outcome seem low.

The Biden administration is reportedly talking with Egypt and Qatar about presenting a “take it or leave it” deal to Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire and hostage release agreement this week. But for the past few months, the two main parties to this conflict roiling the Middle East have effectively already repeatedly responded in the negative.

How Israel’s war on Gaza is spilling into the West Bank

In-depth: There are fears that Israel’s military raids in the West Bank, the largest in decades, are fuelled by plans to annex the Palestinian territory.

For more than a week, Israeli forces have raided the Palestinian cities of Jenin, Tubas, and Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank – razing infrastructure, displacing residents, and killing at least 33 people.

FDD Identifies 19 Websites as Part of an Iranian Global Influence Operation

FDD researchers have uncovered the Iranian role in creating a network of at least 19 websites that present themselves as independent sources of opinion and analysis for audiences across the globe. Other researchers previously tied several of these sites to Iran, but FDD is the first to identify most of them while documenting the technical indicators that demonstrate their connectedness.

Yuval Noah Harari’s Apocalyptic Vision

“About 14 billion years ago, matter, energy, time and space came into being.” So begins Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011), by the Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, and so began one of the 21st century’s most astonishing academic careers. Sapiens has sold more than 25 million copies in various languages. Since then, Harari has published several other books, which have also sold millions. He now employs some 15 people to organize his affairs and promote his ideas.

Cryptarchie Dönmeh et Turquie moderne

Première partie

Après avoir évoqué la crypto-communauté turque des Donmeh1 – musulmans le jour, israélites la nuit – un curieux texte de Wayne Madsen2 initialement publié par la très sérieuse Strategic Culture Foundation en octobre 2011, a été récemment remis en ligne sur le site dissident CounterPunch3. Un texte éclairant qui retrace la filiation souterraine existant entre la Turquie kémaliste et la dynastie des Séoud… celle-ci apparaissant curieusement comme une sorte de reflet oriental de l’Amérique contemporaine, tout à la fois rigidement puritaine et moralement corrompue.