The American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 launched a grand strategy to reorder the middle east. A decade on, growing tensions over Iran and the conflict in Syria suggest that it created the seeds of even greater instability.
Nationalism, chauvinism and greed have overtaken the Olympic games to an absurd degree, says Patrice de Beer.
Iranians are enduring great hardship as a result of economic sanctions. The absence of progress in nuclear negotiations makes their situation even tougher. The link between these two issues is the key to Iranians' future, says Arshin Adib-Moghaddam.
While in antiquity the Olympic truce suspended wars and allowed people to travel safely, in the modern era it has worked more frequently the other way round: politics has muscled its way into sports.
The Saudi regime and Washington are fundamentally working at cross-purposes, for the Saudis’ nemesis is al-Qaeda-like groups, not the Muslim Brotherhood, which will most likely be the beneficiary of armed chaos. Washington will set in motion a process it cannot control, to the calamity of the Syri
The interpretation of Libya's elections of July 2012 as a victory for secularism is misleading. A more nuanced reading of the vote must accommodate the reality and potential of Islamism, says Alison Pargeter.
Think of your local Indian, South African, Mexican or Russian investor looking for guaranteed profits; pool them all together and you could have community of millions to leverage for demanding transparency in the extractive industries. It would be hard for their respective governments and companie
The military approach, sole government policy since the 1980s, has failed. Hawkish voices are no longer able to dominate discussion and portray the Kurdish question solely as a security issue. Can a solution best be found through democratic means?
Until the summer of 2012 I cannot find any use of the Marshall Plan as an analogy for understanding and resolving the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. The Marshall Plan had at its centre a massive sovereign debt relief programme that was particularly propitious for the new West Germany.
A thrilling opening ceremony turned London’s mood from cynical towards euphoric. But after artistic seduction comes political reduction, says David Hayes.
The International Criminal Court could play a key role in securing justice over serious crimes perpetrated in Syria's conflict. But this in turn requires bold action from the European Union, say Lotte Leicht & Clive Baldwin.
