Senate Votes to Repeal Iraq War Authorizations

The Senate voted on Wednesday to advance a bill that would repeal the authorizations for combat operations in Iraq.

The measure to repeal the authorizations from 1991 and 2002 passed the Senate in a 66–30 vote with 18 Republicans and all present Democrats supporting the measure. It now heads to the GOP-controlled House where its future is uncertain. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) has said he is open to supporting a repeal after previously opposing it, according to the Associated Press.

A Fractured Border: Syria, Türkiye, and Cantonization

Several factors related to the civil war in Syria have engendered the cantonization of the country’s north. From east to west, five northern border regions are to various degrees self-governing, though four are backed by, and even dependent on, Türkiye. Ongoing indirect negotiations between Türkiye and Syria—which were previously at loggerheads—may result in an adjustment of the boundaries of these cantons, but will not alter, let alone reverse, the phenomenon of cantonization.

Xi Jinping Says He Is Preparing China for War

The World Should Take Him Seriously

Chinese leader Xi Jinping says he is preparing for war. At the annual meeting of China’s parliament and its top political advisory body in March, Xi wove the theme of war readiness through four separate speeches, in one instance telling his generals to “dare to fight.” His government also announced a 7.2 percent increase in China’s defense budget, which has doubled over the last decade, as well as plans to make the country less dependent on foreign grain imports. And in recent months, Beijing has unveiled new military readiness laws, new air-raid shelters in cities across the strait from Taiwan, and new “National Defense Mobilization” offices countrywide.

Burkina Faso most affected African country by terrorism: Report

Country registered 50% climb in deaths in 2022 compared to 2021, says global terrorism index

Burkina Faso is the most affected by terrorism on the African continent and the second most-affected worldwide in 2022, according to the latest global terrorism report that was released Tuesday.

MILITARY-POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE COUNTRIES OF EASTERN EUROPE

The role of the United States in strengthening the eastern flank of NATO
The period after the end of the Cold War led to significant changes in the military-political sphere of Eastern Europe. Many of these changes were caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to the formation of independent states, for example, in the Baltics. NATO’s military presence in Eastern Europe has steadily increased since the late 1990s. and continues to grow today. Despite the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the main threat to Western countries, this organization has not curtailed its activities, but, on the contrary, is expanding its sphere of interests at the expense of the former member countries of the Warsaw Pact Organization and the republics of the former USSR. After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine, the activity of the North Atlantic Alliance in Eastern Europe intensified even more.

Multipolarity was triggered by the 2003 US invasion of Iraq

Twenty years after the unlawful and destabilizing US-led invasion of Iraq, Washington must face the ultimate consequence of that war: UNSC powers China and Russia laying the foundation for a genuine, UN Charter-based system of multipolarism.

On the night of 19-20 March, 2003, the US air force began bombing the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The EU and NATO were deeply divided on whether to join the aggression: While newer NATO members from Central and Eastern Europe were in favor of the war, European heavyweights Paris and Berlin opposed it.