On September 28, the U.S. Congress voted unanimously to override a decision by President Obama to veto a bill known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA for short. The decision marked the first time since Obama took office that Congress had successfully garnered the two-thirds...
On November 8th, US Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will hope more than a year on the campaign trail – full of speeches, fundraisers, and presidential debates – will be enough to secure the top political seat in the country. Much has been made of their respective...
Cycles of oppressive government, poverty, nationalism, extremism, economic and political instability and ethno-sectarian violence in a geographic area of vague definition. These characteristics are only some of the terms commonly used to describe the Middle East and North Africa region today. However, a mere hundred years ago, these same...
The role and specificity of policymakers is undoubtedly an influential factor in international relations. Statesmen are first and foremost the policymakers thus actors on the international platform. However, they work under the name and interests of the state. In this sense, the issue of the influence of think tanks...
After months of debates, campaigning and interviews, the US Presidential elections are beginning to tail off. The ostensible incumbents for their respective party’s nomination – Hillary Clinton, the Democrat frontrunner, and Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate – seem to have beaten off dozens of other hopefuls and look...
In his interview with the pan-Arab news network Al-Arabiya, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman outlined his ambitious Vision 2030 roadmap pledging to wean Saudi Arabia off its oil dependency by 2030. The blueprint outlined a huge array of fiscal and economic reforms that will shift the...
On December 3, 2015, a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) regiment of 150 troops and 25 tanks deployed to the Iraqi town of Bashiqa, north of Mosul with the mission to reinforce members of the Turkish military already there training the Kurdish Peshmerga and Hashd al-Wataniforces in the lead-up to...
Perhaps it was the difficult economic conditions at home, or because of the unpopular decisions that risks making President Putin the man of the elite rather than the man of the people, but what was clear to see in his annual press conference on 17 December was the Putin...
The coalition government in the United Kingdom during the years 2010-2015 had a cautious approach to Iraq and later Syria. The legacy of the invasion in 2003 and the Bush/Blair alliance led to the UK public being averse to foreign intervention, and the financial crisis of 2008 meant that...
Yassin Majeed, Researcher and writer in regional affairs
Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Iran on the 23rd of November 2015 is considered an exceptional political event in light of international and regional transformations. What increased the importance of the visit, which is the second visit of President Putin to...
