Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria (May 6-12, 2024)

This past week Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 46 attacks on military and civilian targets in northern Israel. In two of the attacks, three IDF soldiers were killed. Following the beginning of the IDF operation in Rafah, Hezbollah escalated its attacks, including the use of heavy Burkan rockets (whose warheads weigh up to 500 kgs, or 1,100 pounds), and the first use of a suicide attack drone was detected. In response, Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked the organization’s military infrastructure in south Lebanon and Hezbollah field commanders were eliminated in targeted attacks.

Les enseignements de Clausewitz et les antagonismes historiques contemporains

Paix dictée ou paix négociée en Ukraine ?

Le 28 avril dernier Jens Stoltenberg, secrétaire général de l’OTAN en visite à Kiev, a rassuré formellement Volodymyr Zelensky que la guerre contre la Russie pouvait être encore gagnée par l’Ukraine et il a réaffirmé : «La Russie doit bien le comprendre. Elle ne pourra pas gagner. Elle ne pourra pas nous avoir à l’usure !»

Le grand hold-up de l’Ukraine n’est pas encore terminé

«La guerre, c’est la paix». La dette est une bonne chose. La liberté, c’est l’esclavage. Nous vivons dans une société de contre-vérités où le joueur de flûte sera payé, et la dette effacée.

L’encre de la signature du président [Joe] Biden transférant 61 milliards de dollars supplémentaires au trou noir appelé Ukraine avait à peine séché que les médias grand public ont annoncé que cet accord n’était pas le dernier acte d’une politique américaine vouée à l’échec. Les élites n’ont aucunement l’intention de mettre fin à cette manne qui ponctionne les richesses de la classe moyenne et populaire pour les transférer vers la classe aisée et connectée.

From the river to the sea: The “Day After” will be based on equality & justice, not Jewish supremacy

Means of return: “Our weapons are the means of our return/And (they are) our constant companions until the liberation of Palestine”, Arab Liberation Front (circa 1975). Artist: Hassib al-Jassem

Israel has reached its zenith and is slowly sinking under the weight of its hubris and vicious greed and that of its enabler, the United States. We are recognizing now how vulnerable Israel is and how responsible we all are for challenging it.

Quel avenir pour l’Europe dans la multipolarité ?

Dans son dernier essai, La Défaite de l’Occident, Emmanuel Todd remet en question «l’axiome» de l’État-nation qui règle les relations internationales depuis le XVIIIe siècle jusqu’à aujourd’hui (axiome fondateur des «Nations unies»). Il propose «une interpréta­tion pour ainsi dire post-euclidienne de la géopolitique mondiale», qui ne repose pas sur l’État-nation, mais fait plutôt l’hypothèse de sa disparition prochaine1.

Turkey says it killed 17 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Syria

Turkish forces have killed 17 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) across various regions of northern Iraq and northern Syria, the defence ministry said on Friday.

In a post on social media platform X, the ministry said its forces had “neutralised” 10 PKK insurgents found in the Gara and Hakurk regions of northern Iraq, and in an area where the Turkish military frequently mounts cross-border raids under its “Claw-Lock Operation”.

Iran’s Military Strategy: Stick or Twist?

The recent outbreak of open conflict between Iran and Israel has upended the notional strategic stability of the ‘shadow war’ between the two, and it is possible that a return to the status quo will be harder to achieve than expected.

The nuclear fatwa that wasn’t—how Iran sold the world a false narrative

“The idea struck me to introduce the concept of a fatwa [during the 2004 nuclear] negotiations. There was no coordination [in advance],” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator at the time recounted eight years after the incident. This was nothing short of a stroke of genius in shaping a false narrative about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, which was delivered by a cleric who eventually rose in the ranks and became a two-term president (2013–2021): Hassan Rouhani.

The Message Europe Should Take From Xi’s Visit – OpEd

Was Xi Jinping’s first trip to Europe in five years a success? It certainly appeared that Xi’s visits to France, Serbia and Hungary, which had both a trade and a political agenda, were successful for the Chinese leader. Can we say the same for France, the EU or Europe? Well, there is not a straight or single answer. And this by itself unveils some of Europe’s grave contradictions on important geopolitical, security and trade issues.