Iran does have a domestic and clandestine opposition, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The MEK combine Communist and Islamist ideas and they started challenging the Islamic Republic since its early days. They set off a bomb in the Iranian Parliament in 1981, killing at least 70 people. Iraq exploited their services to target the Regime in…
Read moreNobody appears to have any clear plans for Syria. Indeed, the ignorance extends to the entirety of the Middle East. But, it’s clear that the reason why U.S. troops remain in Syria is Iran. The Americans have tried to justify their considerable effort to shape events in the Region since the end of World War…
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The shooting has stopped in Aleppo. The city is totally destroyed. The difficult process of reconstruction. The traumas of the children. The Church is involved helping people. “The children have felt the effects of this absurd war. Every day there is death and destruction before their eyes. They sleep very little at night. They still…
Read moreAre Turkey and the United States on a collision course on operation Olive Branch? What consequences could we expect for the region? The Turkish raid in Afrin – Operation ‘Olive Branch’ – has put Turkey on a collision course with Washington. But, to a lesser extent, it has also put Turkey on a collision course…
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The year 2018 could See Current Middle East Tensions Reach Their Inevitable Bloody Conclusion. The Middle East has been a center of tension and instability since the end of WW1. Even then, 2017 stands out as being an especially tense year for the region. There are many open conflicts and growing tensions between Iran and…
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The big winner in the Middle East is Russia. Thus, it will be Russia that will play the biggest role in its post-Islamic State organization. It was Russia that turned Turkey into an ally even after the latter’s air force shot down a Russian Sukhoi-24 jet in November 2015. Then in 2017, Russian backed Syrian…
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The West will always choose Turkey over the aspirations of the Kurds. This is one area where The Americans and the Russians agree, allowing Rojava to separate from Syria. Russia has no desire to compromise relations with Turkey even as it tries to capitalize on success in Syria to strengthen its military presence. The Americans…
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The Kurds have become one of the key players of the Middle East. They have secured autonomy alliances with superpowers and attracted investors to their resource rich region. But, the chances of full independence range from zero to few for the time being. The Syrian government appears to have survived the conflict that was more…
Read moreThe Kurds and their struggle have suffered because of geographical and cultural fragmentation first and, later, their political and cultural disparities. The Kurds have become all too aware that the international community remains hostile to their independence project. It would take nothing short of a total reversal of the borders inherited from the colonial order…
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When asked how a farmer’s daughter who became a Catholic nun ended up as one of Brazil’s most influential refugee advocates, Sister Rosita Milesi, 79,…
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Vusi was an honest man and a hard worker. He had cleared a large piece of moorland and turned it into a beautiful fertile field. He…
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On 24 November, the Solemnity of Christ the King, on the occasion of World Youth Day in the Particular Churches, in St. Peter's Basilica the traditional…
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