Europe’s Recipe for Disaster: The Von der Leyen Program

[T]his reduction [of greenhouse gas emissions] structures and determines the whole of the Commission’s program, because all human activity — industrial, commercial and private — emits greenhouse gases. In fact, in a program document published by the Commission in February 2024, already under the aegis of von der Leyen, are plans to invest 1.5 trillion euros per year in decarbonizing the European Union, and to this end take authoritarian measures in all areas of human activity. The amount is equivalent to 10% of Europe’s GDP — every year. Apparently this policy is the uncompromising model found in every party in Germany, but apart from a war effort, there is no objective of any kind that has ever required the diversion of 10% of a continent’s GDP by political decree.

The Global Backlash Against Globalization

A mushroom-shaped cloud and water column from the underwater Baker nuclear explosion off the Marshall Islands, July 25, 1946. (Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

They were all buddy-buddy for the cameras, going for a joy ride in a deluxe limo and toasting each other at a gala dinner. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was determined to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin in grand style on his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years. A red carpet, flowers, and champagne: it was a veritable romance of rogues.

Seule une «Grande guerre» au Moyen-Orient peut mener vers la paix dans la région

«Nous sommes un peuple parasite : nous n’avons aucune racine dans la terre, aucun sol sous nos pieds. Nous ne sommes pas uniquement des parasites économiques, mais aussi des saprophytes de la culture des autres, de leur poésie, de leur littérature et même de leurs valeurs et de leurs idéaux. Tout courant de leur vie nous entraîne, toute brise soufflant dans leurs régions nous porte. Faut-il alors s’étonner de n’être rien aux yeux des autres peuples ?» -A.D Gordon idéologue sioniste 1856/1922

Le contrôle de l’Eurasie par le sud

Si l’on combine la géographie politique et la géopolitique, il est facile de constater que le groupe de pays situés au nord de la mer d’Arabie présente un certain nombre de caractéristiques communes. Certaines parties de l’Iran moderne et de l’Afghanistan représentent le Khorasan historique, et la ceinture pachtoune s’étend de l’Afghanistan au Pakistan. Le Pakistan et l’Iran sont unis par le Baloutchistan (les deux pays ont des mouvements séparatistes baloutches activement soutenus de l’extérieur).

Le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies confirme le grand succès de la Russie en Afrique

Le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies (CSNU) a adopté une résolution levant l’embargo sur les armes à l’encontre du gouvernement de la République centrafricaine (RCA). Le document a été soumis au Conseil de sécurité par la France (Paris représente traditionnellement toutes les résolutions au Conseil de sécurité concernant ses anciennes colonies) et a été adopté à l’unanimité.

Hezbollah

Hezbollah is an Iranian-sponsored, internationally sanctioned terrorist group with an anti-Israel and anti-U.S. agenda. Hezbollah is primarily based in Lebanon, but has carried out terrorist and criminal operations around the world.

ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in June 2024

ISIS carried out at least 29 confirmed attacks in June in the Homs, Hama, Raqqa, Deir Ez Zor, and Aleppo governorates. These attacks killed at least 49 pro-Assad regime soldiers and two civilians and wounded at least 23 more soldiers and civilians. There were also 12 high quality* attacks carried out during the month. The level of violence increased in June by every metric compared to May. However, most of these attacks occurred in the first half of the month amid a series of regime military operations in eastern Homs. As in May, there were relatively few attacks in Deir Ez Zor and Hama, as Homs remained the center of ISIS activity in the Badia.

Special Briefing: The regional impact of Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination

Netanyahu shapes the battlefield — but for peace or large-scale escalation?

Paul Salem
Vice President for International Engagement

The killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the killing of a Hezbollah senior commander in Beirut could be designed to allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare some victories and move toward winding down the war in Gaza, or they may signal his intentions to escalate the conflict and possibly drag the US into a wider regional contest with Iran and Hezbollah.

Iran and Hezbollah are now under tremendous pressure to respond in kind, which would set off a massive escalatory spiral; to see off this risk, diplomats must engage in immediate crisis management, followed by real de-escalation.