Geopolitical Monitor - Backgrounders - In-depth Geopolitical Analysis on Geopolitical Issues in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East

Backgrounder

Pakistan-American relations lie in uncharted territories. Rumblings from both capitals suggest that the two long-time allies are on the verge of a historic rupture – possibly heralding a seismic shift in America’s foreign policy in the Persian Gulf and ushering in a realignment of allegiances in the region. 

Backgrounder

The coup d’état in the Maldives doesn’t augur well for democracy in the Middle East and North Africa. The process of detoxifying a nation after dictatorship may take decades.

Backgrounder

Against whom is the European Union’s so-called “oil embargo on Iran” really aimed?

Backgrounder

It is one of the marvels of our time that the nuclear industry managed to resurrect itself from its ruins at the end of the last century.

Backgrounder

As the first anniversary of the February 14 uprising approaches, the regime and the country at large find themselves at a crossroads in which there is dangerously little space for a strong middle ground.

Backgrounder

The United States was first to approach cyberspace as a new sphere of military action, along with the existing military domains such as land, sea, air and space. The concept dates back to 1998, but it was only interpreted into a concrete action plan following the war in South Ossetia in August 2008, which did not play out well for the US and its Georgian proxy.

Backgrounder

Despite promises made for improvements, Iraq's economy and infrastructure are still a disaster.

Backgrounder

Official Washington has a soft spot for “defectors” from hostile nations, especially if their tales of perfidy about their ex-homelands fit with favored policy. That was the case with Iraq before the 2003 invasion and now with Iran, but these “defectors” often tell lies.

Backgrounder

The systematic use of sexual violence along with torture, cruel and degrading treatment – such as the common use of flogging - continue to be one of the major security threats and tools of repression targeting women and communities all over Sudan.

Backgrounder

Climate change is prompting a rethink regarding the geopolitical significance of the Arctic. Yet while ‘classical’ approaches to geopolitics cast the region as the site of a new Great Game, critical geopolitics suggests exercising caution.