Reflectii

University Pumps Fresh Blood into North Kosovo

This third extract from Ian Bancroft’s new book, ‘Dragon’s Teeth: Tales from North Kosovo’, tells the story of the so-called ‘University of Pristina, temporarily located in Kosovska Mitrovica’ and how it has become the lifeblood of north Kosovo.

Special Analysises

Libya

EU foreign ministers agreed to revamp the EU’s naval mission in the Mediterranean by redeploying naval assets to monitor the UN’s arms embargo. Crisis Group expert Giuseppe Famà says a renewed naval presence off Libya’s coast could increase the EU’s ability to name and shame violators and deter some arms transfer to the warring parties. But it remains to be seen how the embargo can be monitored elsewhere in Libya and whether, in the event that migrant flows surge, member states will succumb to domestic pressure by swiftly withdrawing naval assets.

South Sudan

President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar agreed to form the long-awaited unity government after major concessions from both parties. Crisis Group expert Alan Boswell says Kiir reverted the country to ten states, firing 32 governors and reversing much territorial gerrymandering, and Machar accepted to return to Juba without his own security forces. Much work remains on many fronts but the deal offers a real chance to end the long civil war.

The Jihadist Factor in Syria’s Idlib: A Conversation with Abu Muhammad al-Jolani

As a humanitarian disaster unfolds in Idlib, the last bastion of Syria’s Islamist rebels, the question is whether accommodation is possible between the militants and their foes. External actors should answer by gauging the insurgents’ ability to maintain calm and their sincerity about aiding civilians.

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Can German Activists Stop the Neo-Nazi Resurgence?

A conservative regional politician, who’d been hounded online by the far right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, was shot dead on his porch last June by a man who’d previously volunteered to hang AfD campaign posters.

The Terrorists Migrating into Europe

“Most migrant terrorists involved in thwarted or completed attacks were purposefully deployed to the migration flows by an organized terrorist group to conduct or support attacks in destination countries.” — Todd Bensman, “What Terrorist Migration Over European Borders Can Teach About American Border Security”, Center for Immigration Studies.

Spain: European Court Approves Summary Deportations of Illegal Migrants

The Strasbourg-based court — which has jurisdiction over 47 European countries, and whose rulings are binding on all 27 member states of the European Union — ruled that in order for migrants to benefit from certain human rights protections, such as access to lawyers, interpreters and the right to remain in Europe, they must first enter European territory in a legal, as opposed to an illegal, manner.

France Reconsiders Force Posture In The Sahel Amid Surging Violence

Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) is now seen by France and Sahelian countries as the greatest security threat in West Africa.

Reports about a drawdown of U.S. troops in West Africa and ISGS’s growing strength have led France and some countries in the region, including Chad, to increase their military presence throughout the Sahel.

Anarchists in Germany, Greece and Uruguay Claim Responsibility for a Series of Attacks on Municipal, Police and Security Vehicles.

This past week, TRAC Analyst, Kelsey Tamplin discovered on the Act for Free website (Actforfree.com), several claims of responsibility for Anarchists’ attacks in Berlin, Germany; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Thessaloniki, Greece in early January and at the start of February. The methods of attacks ranged from throwing stones at police vehicles to setting vehicles on fire.

The United States: A “Destroyer Of Nations”

In the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 – an invasion which many Iraqis believe left their country in the worst condition it has been since the Mongol invasion of 1258 — there was much discussion in the media about the Bush Administration’s goal for “nation-building” in that country. Of course, if there ever were such a goal, it was quickly abandoned, and one hardly ever hears the term “nation-building” discussed as a U.S. foreign policy objective anymore.