Iran Regime’s Concessions Meaningless Unless They Are Applied – Analysis

The ongoing protests in many Iranian cities indicate a structural imbalance in the relationship between the ruling regime and a broad segment of the people. This includes some supporters of the revolution, who believe that the method of managing the crisis and interfering in people’s personal lives will lead to further social unrest, especially with the high rates of inflation and unemployment and the spiraling cost of living.

Decolonization, Multipolarity, And The Demise Of The Monroe Doctrine – Analysis

It is no longer possible, in the case of America, to continue with the Monroe Doctrine nor with the slogan ‘America for the Americans.’” — Andrés Manuel López Obrador

December 3, 2023 marked the 200th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine. It also marks its obsolescence in the face of popular resistance and the Pink Tide of progressive governments in Latin America that have been elected over the past two and a half decades. The prevailing ideology of these left and left of center movements rejects the “Washington Consensus” and opts for a new consensus based on the decolonization of the political, economic, social and cultural spheres. This consensus is accompanied by encounters and conferences that advance liberatory traditions developed since the 1960’s as well as those deeply rooted in indigenous cultures. It is Washington’s failure to respect and adjust to this political and ideological process of transformation that precludes, at this time, a constructive and cooperative U.S. foreign policy towards the region.

Geopolitics Goes Into Orbit With The US And China’s Space Ambitions – Analysis

Space stations are the harbinger of a deepening bipolarity in the international relations of space. The United States leads the International Space Station (ISS), and will lead whatever comes after it, but it is no longer seen as the uncontested unipolar power in space. China now also has a national space station, named Tiangong, which represents a momentous achievement for the country’s space program.

On Migrants, Slovakia Is Stuck Between a Rock (Czechia) and a Hard Place (Hungary)

Thousands of migrants are trapped in Slovakia as the Czechs prevent them from crossing into their territory, while Hungary refuses to take back those that crossed from there into Slovakia. The government is struggling to come up with a solution.

On the balcony of one of several blocks of flats in the Slovak town of Kúty, a major transport hub near the Czech border, a lady waters her potted plants. A calm day, yet what worries her and other residents are their new neighbours – unsettled migrants, mostly from Syria.

Using Religion To Build A Nation – Analysis

Secular countries in the developing world are using religion to knit their constituent peoples into a nation. Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar are recent examples. Why is this so?

While developed countries in the West have knit their diverse peoples into a nation on the basis of “citizenship” and not ethnicity or religion, in many parts of the developing world, countries are increasingly using religion and/or ethnicity to knit their constituent peoples into a nation.

Chechnya’s Kadyrov Raising Military Unit Based On Sufi Order Not For Ukraine But For Use In North Caucasus – OpEd

Reports last month that Ramzan Kadyrov was organizing a military force based on the Batal-Haji wird of a Sufi order for use in Ukraine were disturbing enough given that the Chechen leader was doing so on under the terms of Putin’s mobilization order  (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/11/russian-officials-accuse-influential.html).

The Scorpions: Paramilitaries Or Serbian State-Controlled Unit? – Analysis

Witnesses told the Hague Tribunal that the notorious Scorpions unit was controlled by the Serbian Interior Ministry during the Yugoslav wars. Can an in-depth analysis of the court’s archives establish the truth?

Material in the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY indicates that the Scorpions unit, whose members committed war crimes during the 1990s wars, were part of the Serbian Interior Ministry.

Go Slow on Crimea

Why Ukraine Should Not Rush to Retake the Peninsula

Ukraine’s liberation of the city of Kherson at the beginning of November was more than just a dramatic military victory. In its battlefield win, Ukraine called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bluff. Just two months earlier, Putin had publicly declared Kherson and other Ukrainian territories to be a part of Russia, implicitly placing them under Russia’s nuclear protection. Putin had hoped that the fear of nuclear attack would compel Ukraine to tread lightly and make its supporters back off. His plan did not work.

Russian delegation heads to Turkey amid potential Syria offensive

The top Turkish diplomat aired a rare complaint over the Russian stalling of constitutional talks between the warring Syrian actors, calling on Moscow to allow the process to resume.

A high-level Russian diplomatic delegation is heading to Turkey on Thursday for talks amid repeated Turkish threats of a new ground offensive against the Kurdish groups in northern Syria.

The delegation led by Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin will hold talks with their Turkish counterparts headed by Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. 

The visit comes as Ankara threatens to launch a new ground operation against the Syrian Kurdish groups in northern Syria. “Someone comes out and says: ‘You can’t do this in Kobani, you can’t do that in Kobani.’ Kobani is finished,” Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday in reference to the Syrian Kurdish town that remains under Russian military influence. “We’ve been taking the necessary measures both in Idlib and Kobani and we will continue to do so,” he added.

Turkey, which backtracked from its ground operation plans in July amid strong Russian and Iranian objections, brought the matter back onto its agenda after the bomb attack in Istanbul last month. Ankara has accused the Syrian Kurdish groups of being behind the attack and launched a massive air campaign against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions. The US-allied SDF flatly denied any involvement in the attack. 

The visit also comes as Erdogan has been expressing fresh interest in a meeting with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. However, citing two Turkish sources, Reuters reported on Dec. 2 that Damascus was resisting the Russian efforts to broker a summit between the two leaders.

Asked about the Russian delegation’s visit on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stopped short of repeating Ankara’s threats, but aired a rare complaint over the Russian stalling of the constitutional talks between the warring Syrian actors. 

“We know that Russia does not want to go to Geneva, Switzerland, by citing visa problems. We are also working on alternatives,” Cavusoglu said during a joint presser with his Moldovan counterpart. “But the political process must be accelerated. We’ve been stressing how important this is for the sake of permanent stability.”

He added that the war in Ukraine, Libya and bilateral issues would also be discussed during the talks. “We have clearly not been on the same side with Russia on these issues, but our engagements are proceeding and we have seen its benefits.”

The eighth round of the Syrian talks, held in May, aimed to draft a new constitution in a bid to find a political settlement to the civil war. Since then, Russia has refused to send a delegation to the talks between the rebel groups and the Syrian government held under the auspices of the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. Syrian Kurdish groups controlling a large chunk of territory in northern Syria have been excluded from the talks by Ankara’s veto. 

Russia’s special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said in June that Switzerland lost its neutral status after the country joined the Russian sanctions slapped on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. 

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, in turn, said Nov. 29 that the Russian concerns over the venue “were comprehensively addressed” by the Swiss authorities, but that “a further issue has now been raised which is not in Swiss hands,” without elaborating.