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Transnistria: No Longer an Illegal Trade Hub?
Is Transnistria slowly shifting westward?
If you've not heard of Transnistria—the de-facto state nestled between…
Melting Arctic Sea Ice Opens New Maritime Shipping Route
The Arctic Ocean may be the world's smallest and most shallow, but this by no means negates the region's…
Book Review: The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S.…
Stephen M. Walt offers a character study of three U.S. administrations and the vast network of think tanks and policy wonks that have influenced the trajectory of America’s recent foreign policy – from its political victories to its…
The Taliban Peace Calculus
For the Taliban, the ongoing peace talks are a quest for political legitimacy and a political tactic—not a strategy—to end the war in Afghanistan.
The Taliban consider direct negotiations with the United States in Qatar and elsewhere as a…
Defeating the Philippine’s Communist Rebellion
CPP-NPA and the Duterte Administration: Post-Activism, Insurgency, and Terrorism
Five decades of insurgency and terrorism in the Philippines has presented a socio-political dilemma for both the government and the general public. From the…
The New Taiwan Strait Crisis: a Dangerous Decade Ahead
Foreign Brief analysis by Tommy Chai (May 31, 2019)
What's Happening?China’s military expansion is occurring at a time when Taiwan is becoming more resistant to cross-strait reunification, and the U.S. is altering its commitment to Taiwan,…
Haftar Ante Portas Tripoli
After a relatively easy advance through the southern and central parts of Libya, the country's renegade general now has the capital in his sights.Up until the Libyan National Army (LNA) reached the southern outskirts of Tripoli, the…
How Russia’s Disinformation Campaigns are Succeeding in Europe
Russian disinformation campaigns continue to increase, and increasingly seems to be part of a coordinated campaign to overwhelm democracies.
In 2017, Catalonia held an illegal referendum on independence from Spain, despite it having been…
Sri Lanka: Jihadism and Separatism in an Ethnically-Divided Country
On April 21st, Sri Lanka suffered from several lethal terrorist attacks that killed at least 359 people and injured over 500 more.
Of the victims, thirty-five were citizens of foreign states. According to Sri Lankan authorities, multiple…
The Four “Nots” to Correctly Interpreting China’s Rise
Correctly appraising the rise of China is the sine qua non for engaging with it.In contrast to its predecessors, the Trump administration has brought about some relevant changes to U.S. foreign policy towards the People’s Republic of China.…
Designating the IRGC as a Terrorist Group: Consequences for U.S. Forces
The obsession in the United States with the “war on terror” entered a new phase when U.S. President Donald Trump formally designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). According to…
What’s the Future of the E.U.’s Eastern Partnership Program?
The politically-divisive Eastern Partnership Program (EPP) has been in existence for nearly a decade.
The European Neighborhood Policy—the program's predecessor—was initiated in 2004 to promote cooperation and stability in former Soviet…
The Resilience of Jihadi Extremist Groups in North Africa
Eight years after Qaddafi's fall, Libya remains in a state of chaos due to the fragmentation of power and contrast between West and East Libya (Tripoli and Tobruk)—as well as tribal conflicts (especially in the Fezzan). This affects both…
The Pulwama Incident Part Two: Pakistan and India Have Much to Learn
The world stood on the precipice of a nuclear war in the final week of February 2019.
This article is a continuation of a previous analysis of the Pulwama attack that examined how the attack and the way in which India responded threatened…
The Pulwama Incident Part One: The Razor’s Edge
The Pulwama Bombing, India’s Response, and its Impact on South Asian Security
The Pulwama bombings in Kashmir on February 14th, 2019 sent shockwaves throughout South Asia. An unstable and tense region, to begin with, the bombing brought…
Hungary’s Relationship with Russia Poses a Risk for Europe
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine enters its fifth year, another Eastern European state is appearing on the Kremlin's radar, albeit in quite a different regard: Hungary.
This is hardly surprising to many—Hungarian Prime Minister…
Russia Faces Rising Costs 5 Years After Crimea’s Annexation
For the Kremlin, Crimea is a suitcase without a handle.
The Crimean Peninsula may have strategic significance for the Russian military, but Russian President Vladimir Putin can no longer play the Crimea card at home for political gain.…
Two Ways for the United States to Deepen Diplomatic Engagement with ASEAN
The time has come to demonstrate again that the United States seeks to engage partners in Southeast Asia at the highest levels of government.
As the region’s economic and security landscape continues to evolve, and as Chinese interests in…
Durand Line Border Dispute Remains Point of Contention for Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations
On multiple occasions over the past several years, Afghan and Pakistani forces have clashed with one another along the Durand Line that demarcates the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Durand Line was drawn in 1893 by Britain,…
The Next Middle East Conflict Could Emerge Out of a Cyber Clash
Pandora's Box of cyber warfare was opened when the United States and Israel initiated the Stuxnet attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure in the summer of 2010. In response, Iran hit back by attacking the computer systems of Bank of…
Belarus: The State in the Middle
Although Belarus is typically associated with Russia and the East, Belarusian President Viktor Lukashenko recently stated that he believes that Belarus must cultivate a balance between the East and the West.
Such rhetoric is unusual for…
Tailoring Expectations: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Scenarios for Afghanistan
From the very beginning, the war in Afghanistan has been about managing expectations.
Why is the United States there, what does it intend to achieve, what is the desired end-state, and what is the theory of victory? Nobody expected the…