Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
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Insurgents Intensify Attacks in Iraq as U.S. Prepares Military Withdrawal
Three mortars were fired at an American base in eastern Baghdad on June 6, killing five U.S. soldiers. The incident represented the single most deadly attack on U.S. forces since 2009. A week later, two additional U.S. soldiers were killed in southern Iraq. In recent... MORE
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Shiite Militancy Makes Inroads in Sunni Gaza
Recent years have witnessed an increase in Iranian activity in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon and Gaza. These activities have had military, political, economic, and religious effects in the region. This article will present the Gaza Strip as an example of Shiite Iran’s increased... MORE
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Ahmadinejad Raises Questions With Last-Minute Cancellation Of Armenia Visit
Iran’s embattled President Mahmuod Ahmadinejad has caused a stir by his last-minute cancellation of a visit to Armenia that was intended to highlight and cement close ties between the two neighboring states. The unexpected move rekindled speculation in Yerevan about Tehran’s unease over a resolution... MORE
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Kazakhstan Pushes For Integration With the Global Economy
For Kazakhstan May was full of economically and geopolitically significant developments worth exploring in the national, regional, and global contexts. The country hosted the 4th Economic Forum in Astana on May 3 – 4, designed to assess economic challenges facing the world economy and explore... MORE
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Western Engagement Strategies Encourage Russia Not To Change
There has been a remarkable variety of engagements with the West for Russia last week, and it has achieved exactly what it wanted to achieve – nothing. Moscow played rounds of gas diplomacy with Ukraine and missile defense diplomacy with NATO, sanctions diplomacy in the... MORE
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Attacks on Saudi Diplomats in Karachi May Be Part of a Saudi-Iranian Proxy War
A diplomatic staffer of the Saudi Consulate in Karachi, Hassan al-Qahtani, was killed by unknown gunmen riding two motorcycles in Karachi on May 16 (Dawn [Karachi], May 16). A few days earlier, unidentified assailants had thrown Russian-made HE-36 hand grenades at the Saudi Consulate in... MORE
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Possible Pitfalls For Chisinau In The Upcoming 5+2 Negotiations
Moscow and Berlin converge in asking Chisinau to give up the 2005 law on Transnistria conflict-resolution principles, renounce the unitary character of the state, and (backstage) to move toward federalizing Moldova (EDM, June 6, 8). Chisinau may well face such demands on June 21 in... MORE
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German Initiatives Favor Russia On Transnistria Talks
(Part Two) In the context of Russo-German special relations, the German government proposes to restart international negotiations on the Transnistria conflict from a modified basis, one largely favorable to Russian interests. On this issue, Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements a policy that originates in... MORE
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German Diplomacy Tilts Toward Russia On Transnistria Negotiations
(Part One) International negotiations on the Transnistria conflict are set to resume on June 21, for the first time since 2006, in the 5+2 format (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, the United States, European Union, Chisinau, and Tiraspol). Russia, which had authorized Tiraspol to cause the five-year... MORE
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Unrest in Syria Inspires New Wave of Kurdish Activism
As the momentum of opposition demonstrations targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gains in the face of an increasingly violent crackdown by the state, questions are emerging as to the survivability of a regime widely considered to be among the most autocratic in the region. Like... MORE