Geopolitical Monitor - Opinion - Editorials on Pressing Geopolitical Issues in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East

The August 5th ambush of 16 Egyptian troops in Sinai may prove to be a litmus test for Egypt’s new President Mohammed Morsi.

Back in July, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it official: Afghanistan is now a Major non-NATO Ally (MNNA), a classification that all but ensures that defense and development aid will continue to flow through 2014 and beyond. Is this good policy or an exhausted administration tugging on its very own geopolitical Gordian Knot?

In this editorial, Anthony Rusonik responds to René Rieger’s ‘The Military Option in the Iranian Nuclear Crisis.’

It’s going to take a lot more than just a bailout to fix what ails the Italian economy.

Europe’s redemption lies in the re-affirmation of the Lisbon Strategy of 2000, a ten-year development plan that focused on innovation, education, and social and environmental renewal, says Anis Bajrektarevic of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

Differences of opinion and disagreement in expert assessments within Israel, the United States, and Europe are climbing to pre-Iraq War levels. Depending on the contributor to the heated discussion, the result of an Israeli, US, or combined US-Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear program would be somewhere between increased regional security and a whole-scale regional war.

Will China seek energy salvation in gunboat diplomacy or technological cooperation, asks Anis Bajrektarevic of Geopoliticalmonitor.com

Canada's potential purchase of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters has sparked questions surrounding the appropriateness of military procurement plans and the legitimacy of government contract practices. But apart from these domestic controversies, there is the more important matter of how these new fighters would fit into Canada's foreign policy, says Zak Rose of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

Francois Hollande wants growth, Angela Merkel wants austerity. How has this simple contradiction managed to wreak havoc on global markets, and more importantly: is there any substantive difference between the two positions, asks Zachary Fillingham of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

It is unlikely Nicolas Sarkozy will be reelected president of France on May 6.   Francois Hollande, leader of the Parti Socialiste, won the first round of voting on April 22. He is the third socialist candidate to win the first round of voting in France’s history after Jospin (1995) and Mitterand (1988). The success of the socialist candidate has raised doubts as to whether Sarkozy can garner the last minute support he needs to win.