I played the role of a member of the Department of State of the United States of America. This was an interesting and unique role to have, as often in IR we are trained to approach affairs from a more global way of thinking, thus playing as America seemed almost easy in comparison. I felt very prepared for the simulation,… Read more »
In conjunction with my recent post on the rise of secular nationalist Khalifa Haftar in Libya in the face of the Second Libyan Civil War, I would like to turn to another similar situation to Libya’s east – that of Egypt. In 2011, the same year Muammar Gaddafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte, Hosni Mubarak, long the President… Read more »
In October of 2011, NATO intervention in the Libyan Civil War helped push the rebels over the edge, providing for the end of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya with the brutal death of Muammar Gaddafi. With Gaddafi’s death and the end of the Libyan pan-Arab dictatorship he had fostered, Libya elected a new legislature, the General National Congress,… Read more »
Reuters reports, “BENGHAZI/TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Eastern Libyan forces commander Khalifa Haftar urged his troops trying to take Tripoli to battle harder and teach their enemies an even bigger lesson, because the Muslim month of Ramadan that begins on Monday was a month of holy war.Smoke rises during a fight between members of the Libyan internationally recognised government forces and Eastern… Read more »
Al Jazeera reports, “Renegade commander also orders fighters bogged down on the outskirts of Tripoli to use ‘speed and force’ against GNA. Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar urged his soldiers to teach unity government forces an “even harder lesson” after launching an offensive to capture Tripoli – an attack that so far has been repelled. Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) began… Read more »
Il Fatto Quotidiano reports, “Da mesi il governo di Damasco sta cercando di spostare l’attenzione dal conflitto in corso alla ricostruzione della Siria. Nonostante proseguano i crimini di guerra, aumenti la tensione nella regione curda e altrove – anche a seguito dell’annuncio del ritiro Usa – e la situazione umanitaria in alcune parti del Paese resti estremamente grave, la comunità internazionale comincia a guardare con interesse alla questione…. Read more »
Ouest-France reports “Des grands-parents de deux enfants retenus avec leur mère djihadistes en Syrie saisissent ce lundi la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme pour obtenir la condamnation de la France qui refuse de les rapatrier. Les grands-parents de deux enfants retenus avec leur mère djihadiste dans un camp du Kurdistan syrien frappé d’épidémies et de malnutrition, saisissent lundi la Cour européenne… Read more »
Ouest-France reports, “Fin de mission au Levant pour la Task Force Wagram déployée dans le cadre de l’opération Chammal, volet français de l’opération menée par la coalition internationale anti-Daech. Ce groupement d’artillerie armé de quatre canons Caesar, d’une portée de 40 kilomètres, était déployé en Irak depuis septembre 2016. Hommes et matériels sont sur le chemin du retour en métropole…. Read more »
The New York Times reports, “WASHINGTON — Senior American officials said on Monday that new threats by Iran against United States troops in Iraq were behind the sudden deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and Air Force bombers to the Persian Gulf. The White House and Pentagon made the decision after seeing intelligence that showed new activity on the… Read more »
L’Orient-Le Jour reports, “Après deux jours de tensions, qui ont tué quatre personnes côté israélien et 23 Palestiniens, l’Egypte a forgé un accord de cessation des hostilités. Le calme est revenu lundi dans la bande de Gaza à la faveur d’un cessez-le-feu annoncé par les Palestiniens après le plus grave accès de violence avec Israël depuis des années, mais sans… Read more »