Watch Out, America: Mexico May Be the Next Failed State
When Enrique Peña Nieto became president of Mexico in December 2012, there was considerable hope that the violence that had roiled that country so badly over the previous six years…
The Fatally Flawed Fragile States Index
Just as “this is not a pipe”, the newly named Fragile States Index (FSI) is not the welcomed change it appears to be. Since 2003 the non-profit research and educational…
Turkey: Return of the Generals
The Turkish military wasn’t supposed to matter anymore. Over the past three years, many of Turkey’s senior military officers were tried and imprisoned on charges of planning coups against Prime…
Can Libya Stay Together?
Since the overthrow of Gaddhafi, the capital has long been consumed by fierce struggles between Islamists and the coalition aligned with former prime minister Ali Zeidan, largely perceived as Western…
Forget “Mideast Peace”
What would true Mideast peace look like today? Would it take form in an Iran that ends its gross human-rights violations, historically compromises on its nuclear ambitions and no longer…
Catch-22 in the Sahel
In the relative backwater of U.S. foreign policy that is the Sahel, U.S. engagement has in recent years has been a function of the vital, albeit limited, national-security interest in…
- Lesley Anne Warner
Ukraine: Russia Should Fear Insurgency
As Russian forces occupy Crimea—and especially if they invade and hold wider swaths of the country—Ukraine and the West will face momentous decisions about backing an insurgency. The Kremlin may…
Lebanon’s Next Flashpoint
For the approximately 18,000 Palestinians remaining in Syria’s besieged Yarmouk refugee camp, life is a horrifying daily struggle, a veritable hell on earth. Earlier this month, Amnesty International released a…
Five Ways You’re Wrong About Libya
Three years after the start of the Western military operation against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, “Libya” continues to be upheld as a war done right. It was quick, cheap, successful, and…
Ukraine: Will Putin Strike?
The world should brace itself for a Putin strike to prevent Ukraine from turning towards the West. For those in doubt, suffice to recall President Putin’s statement in 2006 that…
Syria, Iraq, Lebanon: The New AfPak
Developments in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon are so deeply intertwined that we might start speaking about these countries as a common space, as we do now with “AfPak.” In less…
- Anno Bunnik
Unsolvable Syria
It is easy to confuse possibility with responsibility, and policy with inescapable reality. Especially when headline-writers attempt to achieve compression—which, speaking of inescapable reality, is part of their job. An…