This study assesses the causes and results of the war in the summer of 2006 and its implications for local, regional and global politics. It also focuses on Spain’s military involvement in Lebanon, especially on the relationship between the Spanish UNIFIL contingent and the local population in South Lebanon.
Zimbabwe is one of the failed States of Africa due to the violence and power monopoly wielded by the Mugabe regime.
The decision by Turkey’s Constitutional Court to hear the case against the neo-Islamist –and pro-European– government presented by the militantly secularist establishment could jeopardise the country’s already complicated bid to join the European Union.
The main irregular migration route from Asia to Europe passes through Turkey into Greece, which also receives irregular migrants from former Communist countries.
This ARI describes the criminal business of profiting from the Atlantic routes of illegal immigration to the Canary Islands.
The presidential election in Lebanon has become the latest battle between two political coalitions competing for the reins of the country’s future. Despite the fact that Lebanese politicians have so far refrained from taking the step that would unleash chaos, the situation could spiral out of control.
The Justice and Development (AKP) Party, which has its roots in political Islam, was returned to office after it won a landslide victory in early elections called to resolve a crisis with the powerful military, backed by the secular establishment, over who should be the country’s next President.
Lebanon is faced with an internal political deadlock and the threat of being overwhelmed by salafi groups bent on destabilising it. The basic domestic political issues at this point are: the formation of a new national unity government, the election of a new President (the mandate of the current President Emile Lahoud expires this autumn), the creation of a new tribunal to investigate the killing of former Prime Minister Rafiq al Hariri and his escort, and the rising threat of al-Qaeda-inspired salafi groups such as Fatah al-Islam.
Divergent policies and threat perceptions in the US and the EU concerning the Muslim world, as well as differences in strategic culture and historical experience, make transatlantic cooperation less relevant than is required by current challenges.
Since the 1990s, the Turkish military have emerged as a force defending Turkey’s secular democracy in the political realm. How will they react towards the upsurge in Islamic influence and the other issues facing the country?
The expulsion of the Taliban from Afghanistan and the neo-con fiasco in Iraq have strengthened the role of the Shias and of Iran in the Middle East. Will a new regional war be avoided?
A keynote speech by Mosiuoa Lekota, Minister of Defence of South Africa, delivered at Elcano Royal Institute on 19 April 2007.