“I am absolutely sincere in this regard when I say that Iran got much more than it could expect [from the Biden administration]….. [The Iranian leaders] are fighting for [their] national interest like lions. They fight for every comma, every word, and as a rule, quite successfully.” — Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s chief negotiator for the US in the nuclear talks, The New York Post, March 12, 2022.
Entre ces deux-là, le mot « crise » est toujours tabou. Les signaux d’un malaise persistant entre Paris et Rabat sont pourtant de moins en moins faibles.
En juin et juillet derniers, puis à nouveau début septembre, le roi Mohammed VI passait plusieurs semaines en France. Deux mois durant lesquels le monarque, venu au chevet de sa mère que l’on dit souffrante, a séjourné essentiellement à Paris, dans une de ses résidences acquise en 2020 : un hôtel particulier situé dans le 7e arrondissement, derrière le Champ de Mars. Soit à deux pas de l’Élysée.
“Notre pays souffre du chômage, et mon fils rêve comme ses pairs de fonder une famille. C’est mieux de migrer que de rester ici et de voir les gens se développer, alors que lui est impuissant et humilié, parce qu’il n’a pas qui l’aider. Je n’attendrai pas jusqu’à ce qu’il se suicide.” C’est ainsi que Mahmoud résume les raisons qui l’ont poussé à collecter de l’argent pour financer la migration irrégulière de son fils, à travers la Serbie, jusqu’en France, suivant ainsi l’exemple de plusieurs jeunes de Tataouine.
Clashes erupted between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Faylaq al-Sham, affiliated with the Turkish-backed FSA, due to differences over the alleged opening of a commercial crossing with the Syrian government-held areas in the eastern Idlib countryside.
Turkey is likely to face stronger headwinds in the eastern Mediterranean after signing a controversial energy exploration deal with Libya’s interim government.
Turkey’s signing of a hydrocarbon exploration deal with the Tripoli government has crippled its recent efforts to balance its policy in Libya and fanned the internal and external rivalries haunting the conflict-torn country.
Pressured by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, and concerned over Hezbollah attacking, Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced Israel will not negotiate its maritime border with Lebanon under threats.
Within less than a week, the optimism that had swept through Jerusalem, Beirut and Washington regarding prospects for completing a deal on the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border has turned into discouraging pessimism. On Oct. 6, Defense Minister Benny Gantz instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prepare for escalation along Israel’s northern borders, including “defense and offense readiness.”
US strikes knocked off the jihadist group’s second-highest Syrian commander and a smuggler believed to have helped kidnap and behead Kurdish officials.
American military forces in Syria killed three top Islamic State officials in two separate operations over the past 24 hours, US officials said.
John Le Carré, a legendary author of espionage novels, described Lesbos as “a Greek island in the Aegean wholly surrounded by monstrous memories” in his bestselling thriller “A Perfect Spy.” The line between fiction and truth becomes murkier as tensions between Turkey and Greece over Lesbos, Samos, other Greek islands and other issues show no sign of abating and are likely to escalate.
From 1 September to 2 September 2022, a summit of the Open Balkan initiative, which is a joint project of Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania based on the idea of free flow of people, goods, capital and services, was organized in Belgrade. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and North Macedonia Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski participated at the summit of the leaders of the Open Balkan regional initiative. The political leaders primarily came together to consider the future and look for optimal solutions for the complex situation in which the Western Balkans region is currently embroiled.
Proponents of a moderate Islam that embraces tolerance, diversity, and pluralism may be betting on the wrong horse by supporting Muslim scholars on autocrats’ payroll.
Polling in the Middle East seems to confirm that state-sponsored clerics lack credibility.