Before the week closes a fresh suicide bomb explosion hits Istiklal – the famous pedestrian high street in the heart of Istanbul (Constantinople). Known to most historically aware European travelers as Rue du Pera, Istiklal is frequented by scores of world class tourists. The German and other European governments have…
Read More
The first five days of November 2013 saw the Nobel Laureate (1995) Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. As a guest participant in this 60th biennial world class conference on global security concerns, I was assigned to the Working Group ‘Turkey and its Neighbours’. Central…
Read More
The refugee crisis in Europe escalates by the day to an unprecedented scale shaking the very foundations of the European Union. Just a week away from the crucial summit in Brussels, scheduled for the 7th of March 2016, the European Union is in disarray, lost in a fearful tunnel without…
Read More
The White House has repeatedly stated that Russia undermined U.S. efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria, supporting the Government of President Bashar al-Assad. The American administration further claims that Moscow continues to hinder opportunities to engage the moderate Syrian opposition in the discussion of political change, in which,…
Read More
With the passage of time an increasing number analysts believe that the Ukrainian crisis has become a kind of turning point, after which American influence in the world will decline. It is highly likely that Ukraine will go down in history as the country where the US, so far considered…
Read More
The unfolding events in Ukraine after the 12 February Minsk ceasefire show that US neo-colonial policies in the region are failing. The Americans are increasingly realizing that they cannot fully play the Ukrainian card against Russia. Washington is expected to proceed to plan B or C in order to leave…
Read More
By Dr. Yiorghos Leventis on January 10, 2015
in Articles, Cyprus, Eastern Mediterranean, Eurasian Affairs, Europe, European Union, Global Security, Israel, Middle East, Middle East & North Africa: MENA, Regional Security, Turkey, World Affairs
No sooner the first NAVTEX signaling a concerted plan of provocations in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone expired, Ankara issued a second Navigation Telex notifying the apathetic world that it is here to stay – audaciously seeking to block waters even closer to the southern coast of the Republic of…
Read More
By Dr. Yiorghos Leventis on November 12, 2014
in Articles, Cyprus, Eastern Mediterranean, Eurasian Affairs, Europe, European Union, Middle East, Middle East & North Africa: MENA, Regional Security, Turkey
Exactly three years ago, in October 2011, my phone rang at my antique maps gallery-cum-office. At the other end of the line was Dr Gregory Reichberg, an American seasoned researcher, a dear colleague then Director of the PRIO Cyprus Centre. Already at my time at the UN University HQ Tokyo…
Read More
As time passes it becomes more obvious that the American protégées in Kiev did not justify the ‘hopes and trust’ and disregarded the ‘honorable mission’ of destroying the Russian-speaking population of Donbass. The Ukrainian ultra-nationalists increasingly become a burnt card, with no place in the deck of Western policy reserved…
Read More
Today there is no resident of the troubled Ukraine, who would not ask himself/herself the tantalizing question: ‘what will happen next?’. Partly the answer to this question can be found by reference to the life and times of Adolf Hitler in the 1920s and 1930s. Today, we bear witness to…
Read More