Can the Rise of Women Leaders in Africa Fix Decades of Corruption and a Heavy legacy of Colonialism?

by Lamia Ahmed Throughout the ages, African women have played a pivotal role in the history of their countries, and have contributed effectively to shaping the culture and development of society. There have always been pioneering women who have changed the course of history. This is the warrior queen Amina, Queen of Zazzau (Northern Nigeria), Read more

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The unpublished security clauses of the Iran-Saudi deal and its implication on regional and global security

The public statement that announced the deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia contains only the contours of a detailed deal whose terms are guaranteed by China and whose terms will be revealed gradually in the next few weeks. One such details concern the long terms security agreement as well as the immediate action to be Read more

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Turkish elections: Can Erdogan maintain his grip on power?

by Mohamad Hasan Sweidan * As the centenary of the founding of the Turkish Republic approaches, Turkiye faces one of the most important elections in its history. Most importantly, the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections, currently slated for May, could lead to major shifts in the country’s foreign policy. But the February earthquakes that devastated Read more

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Why would China put its prestige on the line by proposing a peace plan for the War in Ukraine that they know will be rejected by NATO?

Hours after China announced its proposal regarding the situation in Ukraine, NATO’s chief, Jens Stoltenberg, rejected it saying by invoking the lack of trust. “First of all, there is not much trust in China since they could not condemn Russia’s invasion. And they signed an agreement on unlimited friendship with Russia before the invasion.” The Read more

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Religion, Politics, and Conflict

Russia’s Complex Challenges: Secularism, Christianity, Islam, Wahhabism, and War  For most of the last 1000 years Russia’s rulers have had a complicated history with religion, in general and with Islam in particular. While Islam has origins in the region that go back more than 1100 years, the relationship with the Ottoman Empire, Salafi Islam in Read more

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The Limits and the Potential of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

A meeting among leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states, during any other year in the past, would not make the news. This year’s meeting, however, should matters. Yet, it was hardly covered in Western media. There are important reasons for why the world should pay attention to this 21-year-old intergovernmental organization (IGO). Read more

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The Russian Approach to the Global and Regional Challenges: Consolidating Moscow’s Power in the New World Order

by Mohamed Ibrahim The 1997 National Security Concept of Russia identified Russia as an “influential European and Asian power” and recommended that Russia maintain an equal distance in relations with global European and Asian economic and political actors, while the 2000 Foreign Policy Concept referred to the Russian Federation as its “superpower.” Responsibility for maintaining Read more

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The Religious factor in the war in Ukraine

Hosni Mahalli* Some Western commentators are now talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to revive the legacy of the Soviet Union, who previously said “its collapse caused the disintegration of historical Russia”. Others have pointed to Putin’s religious and sectarian calculations in his military intervention in Ukraine. The roots of these accounts go back Read more

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