... to design any exit strategy over the five years of its immediate involvement in the Syrian conflict. The degree of Russia’s influence on the Damascus regime is also an open question. Is the dog wagging the tail or is the tail wagging the dog?
Could Turkey be the principal beneficiary? Establishing buffer zones in Idlib and in Syria’s northern provinces is Erdogan’s unquestionable achievement. Yet to what degree is Ankara really in control of the situation in Idlib? This continuously festering ...
... Higher School of Economics are holding an online seminar «New Regional Dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean?».
The event will focus on the competitive and inclusive approaches to security in the Eastern Mediterranean, opportunities and limitations for Turkey's foreign policy activization, implications of the new US administration policy regarding the Eastern Mediterranean for the regional dynamics.
Andrey Kortunov, Director General, Russian International Affairs Council, and Sergey Karaganov, Dean,...
...
Anna Manafova:
Is the Eastern Mediterranean a New Competitor for Russia on the European Gas Markets?
Transporting the gas to Europe demanded that Cyprus be involved. This once again raised the predictable issue of Cyprus and prompted a response from Turkey (which we believe to be somewhat belated). In the course of time, Israel succeeded in securing the support of Egypt, Greece and Cyprus. The latter two states need to be involved for two reasons: the Aphrodite deposit was discovered off the coast ...
... "cold" to "superhot" and then to "frozen," as in unresolved. From the Mediterranean to the Balkans to Central Asia, these frozen conflicts remain, with the habit of resurging violence every now and then.
The increasing tension between Turkey and Greece, both NATO members, served as a heads-up to what is now happening in the South Caucasus. The ongoing tension between Georgia and Russia also stems from the frozen conflict unsolved in the last decade of the last millennia. Heading to ...
... escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh include: 1) Russia finding itself hemmed in from all sides by the seemingly unbreakable transatlantic coalition which has given the West considerable room for manoeuvre with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue; 2) Turkey’s exponentially growing ambitions to build a new Islamic Empire, which are bolstered by the country’s strong alliance with the United States; and 3) the complete ineptitude of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, the United States and France), which ...
... Brussels wants to lift its sanctions, it will not be able to trade with Damascus due to secondary US sanctions. By their step, the USA deprived the EU of arguments in its negotiations with Syria and its allies.
Ruslan Mamedov:
Russia in Syria: A “Path Dependence ... ... sanctions. For the UAE, Damascus is important for several reasons, the most important of which is the regional confrontation with Turkey. An arc of instability across the Mediterranean, in which Turkey and the UAE stand on opposite sides of the barricade, ...
... governmental subsidies. Rubin also said that groups whose members had been trained by
SADAT
included ISIS and Al-Nusra.”
Turkey’s support for the GNA had significantly influenced the restoration of the balance of power but did not ensure a decisive ... ... about Minister of Interior Fathi Bashagha of the GNA and Vice President of the Presidency Council
Ahmed Maiteeq
trading accusations. Such discord within the GNA can be linked to Bashagha’s growing personal ambitions: a native of Misrata, he also represents ...
Restrictions are often more effective when applied against allies than opponents
The January meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council focused, in part, on Turkey’s oil and gas drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell
said
the Working Party of Foreign Relations Counsellors (RELEX) is about to complete its package of sanctions ...
... economic reasons, many are beholden to their host country's policies, but particularly in the case of policy vis-à-vis Russia. They are spearheaded by the American Hellenic Institute, and lobby constantly to try and persuade the US to be firmer with Turkey on the Cyprus question. Yet they are by and large also anti-communist, and therefore anti-Russian, as if the Cold War is uppermost in their minds, with their apparent inability to differentiate between Communism and modern Russia.
The Greek government ...
... region is divided based on each country’s national interests which contradict other states. Regarding the civil war in Libya, security will aggravate in the country, mainly in Tripoli, unless an agreement is reached among militant groups in addition to Turkey, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, the USA and Russia. The impeachment process of US President Donald Trump and the US role in the MENA region would determine the future of conflicts in many countries starting from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya and the future government in Lebanon, Iraq and Algeria,...