Diplomacy and International Politics

As Sri Lanka reels from a series of deadly Easter Sunday attacks, the problem of violent extremism enters the spotlight once again. How can the U.S. and the world anticipate and counter the threat of terrorism, which experts agree cannot be addressed by military means alone? Amna Nawaz talks to former diplomat Farah Pandith, whose new book “How We Win” outlines a strategy for keeping us safe.

A long-awaited US probe on Russian election meddling has divided Washington but on one point virtually all US policymakers are clear -- there will be no reconciliation with Moscow.

Russia was absent from Africa for two decades while the European Union, the US and China expanded their relations with the rising states of the continent. Russia’s trade has remained small, in 2018 about $ 17 billion for all of Africa compared with the EU’s $ 156 billion with sub-Saharan Africa alone. But Russia’s posture in Africa is beginning to pivot to the continent.

As US and China edge towards an accord over trade tariffs, Brussels reaches an understanding with China that relations be built on ‘openness, non-discrimination, and fair competition’ – and a need for vigilance. The EU has been very firm on trade with China, but less so on the vexed question of Beijing’s human rights record.

BEIRUT — The ongoing street demonstrations in Algeria and Sudan and the high-level changes in leadership they have sparked include political developments that are very different from the Arab Uprisings of 2010-11 (the so-called “Arab Spring”). We should watch two dynamics, in particular, to find out if this is genuinely a historic moment of change, or another re-run of previous uprisings and some toppled leaders of Arab authoritarian states that did not fundamentally change how power is exercised or how citizens are treated.

BEIRUT — The nationwide street demonstrations that have now toppled two long-serving and ageing dictators in Algeria and Sudan are particularly poignant, because they occur in two pedigree countries in the modern Arab struggles for freedom and dignity.

This week, NATO will celebrate its 70th anniversary in Washington, DC. The turbulence in transatlantic relations, Washington’s recurrent claim that the European allies do not carry their fair share of the burden, and the leaked news according to which President Trump was considering withdrawing the United States from the Alliance, intensified the concerns about the future of NATO. The European Union is taking steps to bolster its “strategic autonomy”, in order to prepare for the day the guarantee of the American security umbrella might disappear.

Turkish-American relations are in crisis once again, this time due to the Turkish purchase of the S-400 air defense systems from Russia and a possible consequential U.S. embargo against Turkey in the F-35 fighter jet project. Turkey will get the delivery of the air defense system by July this year. The American administration believes that pushing Turkey out of the F-35 project may stop this process.