At the merci of the water mafia

Down by the sandy banks of the Yamuna River, the men must work quickly. At a little past 12 a.m. one humid night in May, they pull back the black plastic tarp covering three boreholes sunk deep in the ground along the waterway that traces Delhi’s eastern edge. From a shack a few feet away, they then drag thick hoses toward a queue of 20-odd tanker trucks idling quietly with their headlights turned off. The men work in a team: While one man fits a hose’s mouth over a borehole, another clambers atop a truck at the front of the line and shoves the tube’s opposite end into the empty steel cistern attached to the vehicle’s creaky frame.

Who Cares if Iran Gets A Nuke? (Lessons from Pakistan)

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Iran and world powers finally clenched a long awaited nuclear deal earlier this week. As The Diplomat‘s Ankit Panda points out, the deal is written quite well, enough to ensure Iranian compliance because sanctions can easily be reimposed if Iran cheats. In any case, it is highly unlikely that Iran will cheat, or cheat too explicitly. Why would Iran do so anyhow? Iran’s leaders agreed to negotiations because they are rational actors–contrary to what some American politicians believe–who value the survival of their governmental system and the national’s welfare enough to negotiate.

Πολεμικά αεροσκάφη της Λιβύης βύθισαν πλοίο με μαχητές και όπλα

Πολεμικά αεροσκάφη της Λιβύης βύθισαν χθες ένα πλοίο και επιτέθηκαν σε ένα δεύτερο κοντά στην πόλη Βεγγάζη της ανατολικής Λιβύης, όπως δήλωσαν σήμερα εκπρόσωποι του στρατού της διεθνώς αναγνωρισμένης κυβέρνησης της χώρας.

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Κατεστραμμένα σπίτια στη Βεγγάζη, Μάρτιος 2015 | AP Photo/Mohamed Salama

Δεν υπάρχουν αναφορές από αυτόπτες μάρτυρες ή ανεξάρτητη επιβεβαίωση του πλήγματος κοντά στην πόλη Μαρίσα, το οποίο επιβεβαίωσε επίσης το τηλεοπτικό δίκτυο Αλ Αραμπίγια που εδρεύει στο Ντουμπάι.

You should actually read the IMF's memo on Greece. It's horrific.

Germany and the EU "won" their arguments with Greece, and the country accepted another bailout deal as the cost of staying in the eurozone.

Thomson ReutersChristine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

Neither the country nor the people wanted the bailout to come with another painful austerity package, but it has. 

Διχογνωμία για τη διπλωματία του Ομπάμα

Υπάρχει κάτι στο οποίο οι δύο πλευρές της διαμάχης για τη συμφωνία με το Ιράν συμφωνούν: ο πρόεδρος Ομπάμα θα μείνει στην Ιστορία για την επίτευξή της. Η διαφωνία τους έγκειται στον τρόπο με τον οποίο ο πρόεδρος των ΗΠΑ θα μείνει στην Ιστορία. Ως ειρηνοποιός ή ως κατευναστής; Η επικέντρωση στη λεπτομέρεια υποδηλώνει μια μεγαλύτερου μεγέθους σύγκρουση οραμάτων μεταξύ της πίστης του Ομπάμα στη διπλωματία, την οποία θεωρεί τον πιο λογικό τρόπο να επιλυθούν οι διαφορές, και του βαθέος σκεπτικισμού των επικριτών του γύρω από τις διαπραγματεύσεις με έναν αντίπαλο που δεν εμπιστεύονται.

Για τον Αμερικανό πρόεδρο αυτή η περίοδος αφιερώθηκε στη διπλωματία. Η κόπωση από τις πολεμικές συρράξεις των τελευταίων ετών έχουν οδηγήσει σε μια προσπάθεια αξιοποίησης των οφελών από τα διαπραγματευτικά τραπέζια. Η πληθώρα διαπραγματεύσεων δίνει τη δυνατότητα στον Ομπάμα να αφήσει πίσω του επιτεύγματα στην εξωτερική πολιτική, η οποία διαφορετικά θα αποτελούσε μια σειρά από ένοπλες συγκρούσεις στη Μέση Ανατολή.

In new sign of Assad’s troubles, Syria’s Druze turn away from president

During four years of civil war, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could count on the country’s Druze to keep quiet. Like other religious minorities, the Druze community tended to back the strongman, fearing their fate could be worse under the rebels, who are mostly Sunni Muslims.

Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (center) stands during a meeting of Druze spiritual figures in Beirut, Lebanon June 12. Members of Syria's Druze minority have helped repel a rebel attack on an army base in the south, mobilizing to confront insurgents including a- Qaeda's Nusra Front. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

Recently, however, the Druze have been defying Assad's government. Many are refusing compulsory military service. Increasingly, Druze spiritual leaders are criticizing the embattled president and urging their community to adopt a neutral stance in the conflict.

"It is in Israel’s interest that the two-state solution will remain feasible and will be promoted"

Dr. Nimrod Goren is the Founder and Chairman of Mitvim - The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies and a Teaching Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and Political Psychology from the Hebrew University, and his dissertation topic was "The role of external incentives in promoting peace: the cases of Israel and Turkey". After completing his doctorate, Nimrod was selected to take part in Public Policy training at Syracuse University as the Israeli participant in the 2009-10 US State Department's Fulbright Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program. Nimrod is the former Executive Director of the Young Israeli Forum for Cooperation (YIFC), and in this capacity he was awarded the 2009 Victor J. Goldberg IIE Prize for Peace in the Middle East. In addition, Nimrod has worked at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, the Nehemia Levtzion Center for Islamic Studies, and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace. He is a Board Member at MALI – The Center for Enterprising Citizens, and his areas of expertise include the Middle East peace process, Israel’s foreign policy, and modern Turkey.

Despite sanctions, Russia remains global energy player

Sanctions may have damaged the Russian energy sector, but Russian energy diplomacy is still scoring goals and helping Russia to retain its global power status. By seeking out alternative markets – often in overlooked countries – Russia is seeking to diversify its export portfolio to counter sour relations with the EU.

In the past year, many Russian energy companies and their executives (including the oil giants Roseneft, Gazprom Neft and Novatek) found themselves on American and European sanction lists. Yet despite sanctions and the attendant heavy financial losses imposed on the country’s energy sector, Russia continues to pursue a robust energy diplomacy.