CIRSD Recommends
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Death of Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi could see jihadis' resistance crumble
If it is confirmed that Baghdadi has been killed in a Russian air strike, it would also be a major coup for Vladimir Putin
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Rolling Back Democracy
What must Angela Merkel be thinking? What must Xi Jinping be thinking? What must Vladimir Putin be thinking?
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In our backyard: The Caribbean’s statelessness and refugee crisis
The migrant crisis in Europe has placed the issues of refugees and migration firmly on the global agenda, with estimates that over 1 million people entered Europe in 2015 as refugees or migrants. Fleeing war, generalized violence, or repressive governments, they mostly originate from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Albania, and Pakistan.
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How Brazil’s political and economic crisis affects its military spending
SIPRI’s recently published data shows a decrease of 7.2% in Brazil’s military expenditure in 2016 compared to 2015. The reasons behind this cut are quite complicated, since the country is embroiled in a mix of a political and economic crises. This blog post briefly discusses some of the features driving Brazil’s military spending downwards and how the current context may affect the future.
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Big Oil Steps Up Support for Carbon Tax
Some of the world’s largest oil companies and the country’s biggest auto maker are joining a group pushing the U.S. government to tax carbon in an effort to slow climate change.
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US oil groups feel Russia sanctions freeze more than Europeans
Rivals gain ground with less aggressive EU stance
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As U.S. Adds Troops in Afghanistan, Trump’s Strategy Remains Undefined
When President Trump made his first major decision on the war in Afghanistan, he did not announce it in a nationally televised address from the White House or a speech at West Point.
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Start-Up Palestine: How to Spark a West Bank Tech Boom
For decades, Israeli and Palestinian politicians have pursued a political solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, only to see their hopes dashed again and again. Today, the prospects for a comprehensive peace agreement remain dim. Policymakers must therefore start looking for other ways to improve the situation on the ground and preserve the possibility of a two-state solution.
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Glencore Can Snatch Rio’s Coal, but Might Regret It
Knowing when to go in with cannons blazing and when to hold your fire is essential for all businesses, but especially for big miners. That makes Glencore’s gambit to poach Rio Tinto’s Australian coal assets from rival Chinese suitor Yancoal for $2.55 billion an interesting case.
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Meet the Two Princes Reshaping the Middle East
The dramatic and sudden effort to isolate Qatar, like the fateful intervention before it in Yemen, sprang from the shared vision of two princes. Depending on your point of view, they may be the harbingers of a new and better Middle East—or reckless architects of disaster.
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Excess oil inventories to last until 2018 – IEA
Oil demand should outpace supply in the second half of this year but excess inventories will persist well into 2018, dealing a blow to global crude producers enacting output cuts to bring down stubbornly high stockpiles.
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Xi Jinping’s Marco Polo Strategy
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a heavily orchestrated “Belt and Road” forum in Beijing. The two-day event attracted 29 heads of state, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and 1,200 delegates from over 100 countries. Xi called China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) the “project of the century.” The 65 countries involved comprise two-thirds of the world’s land mass and include some four and a half billion people.
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What Brexit Means
Brexit supporters argue that the EU threatens sovereignty and stifles growth, while opponents counter that EU membership strengthens trade, investment, and the UK’s standing in the world.
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How Muslim Extremists Exploit European Liberalism
Islamism and Salafism have become part of Europe’s Muslim landscape, affecting its hues and shape.
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Shadowy rebels extend Myanmar’s wars
The little-known Arakan Army, one of the country's newest insurgent outfits, is responsible for rising violence in the country's remote western regions
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Tehran Terrorist Attacks Risk Unleashing All-Out War Between Iran And Saudi Arabia
And President Trump’s backhanded condolences and hypocrisy aren’t helping.
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SPY VS. SPY The Game Is Afoot
How spies, terrorists, and criminals could leverage gamified intelligence networks to wreak havoc in the 21st century.
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A look at what a hung Parliament means for Britain
Britain’s general election has ended with no party winning an outright majority, bringing the second so-called hung Parliament in the last three elections. Here are a few questions over what it means and its implications for the country.
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How Vienna produced ideas that shaped the West
ACROSS the cobbles of Vienna’s Michaelerplatz the world of empires, waltzes and mutton-chop whiskers glowers at the modern age of psychoanalysis, atonal music and clean shaves. In one corner, the monumental, neo-baroque entrance to the Hofburg palace, seat of the Habsburgs; in the other, the Looshaus, all straight lines and smooth façades, one of the first buildings in the international style. This outcrop of modernism, designed by Adolf Loos, was completed in 1911
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The Berlin attack proves Tunisia, the single success of the Arab Spring, is yet to overcome its past
Another terrorist attack in Europe brings more alarmed finger-pointing at Tunisia. Have we entirely misread the story of the small Mediterranean nation whose people’s bold protests for dignity and social justice sparked the Arab Spring six years ago? It is a deeply troubling puzzle. Here is a nation known by most in the West for its languid tourist beaches; but one which has also produced a group of individuals now linked to a string of terrorist attacks.
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How Europe can deliver on energy efficiency
The European Commission’s recently released Clean Energy Package, has a 2030 target of 30% energy savings. An important policy instrument to deliver these are Energy Efficiency Obligation (EEO) schemes.
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Turkey and Russia: Envoy's Murder Will Bend Relationship, Not Break It
Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was shot and killed Dec. 19 at an art exhibition in Ankara, where he was delivering a public address. Turkish security forces subsequently killed the gunman, reported to be Mert Altintas, a member of the special forces department of the Turkish National Police and part of Karlov's security detail. Three others were wounded in the attack.
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The Invisible Costs of Cyber Weapons
For kinetic weapons like tanks, production costs generally outweigh research and development. For cyber weapons, R&D is almost everything.
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If we develop Africa’s bioeconomy it will be as transformative for us as digital has been
The late 20th century was a period of unprecedented advancement in information and communications technology. The rapid adoption of mobile phones in Africa laid the groundwork for a digital economy.
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Thomas C. Schelling, Master Theorist of Nuclear Strategy, Dies at 95
Thomas C. Schelling, an economist and Nobel laureate whose interest in game theory led him to write important works on nuclear strategy and to use the concept of the tipping point to explain social problems, including white flight from urban neighborhoods, died on Tuesday at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 95.
