EDITORIAL

Raagini Shekher Sharma
(RIEAS Senior Analyst)

Copyright: @ 2022 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 11 December 2022

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

The Relevance

The Group of Twenty (G20) was formed in 1999 in the wake of the economic meltdown in South East Asia that shook the economy of the world with a view to unite the world’s largest established and emerging economies and ensure global financial and economic stability. The aim was to create a global ecosystem that would support equitable growth and development. The most powerful economies in the world, both developed and emerging, were brought together for this common cause. In the third summit in 2009 held in Pittsburgh, the leaders designated the G20 as the “premier forum for international economic cooperation.”.. Read more

Shaul Shay
(Senior research fellow at the International Institute for Counterterrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council)

Copyright: @ 2022 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 21 November 2022

While the world's attention is focused on the Iranian-made drone attacks conducted by Russia against infrastructure and energy targets in Ukraine, the Houthis, Iran's allies, are conducting attacks against energy targets in Yemen. The drone strikes against energy targets in both Ukraine and Yemen began in October 2022.

The drones supplied by Iran to its ally Russia, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen are wreaking havoc, damaging critical energy infrastructures and jeopardizing the world's energy security.

Since October 2022, the Iran-backed Houthis launched 3 drone attacks on oil terminals in Hadramout and Shabwa in an effort to halt tankers from delivering the nation’s oil exports from the government-controlled territories to the global market.... Read more

Niles Webb
(Historian based in UK)

Copyright: @ 2022 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 9 November 2022

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS)

The UK’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union (EU) is often cited alongside the election of Donald Trump as US President as evidence that the rules-based international order is in crisis. G. John Ikenberry, a leading liberal internationalist, writes that ‘[t]he two great powers that have done the most to give the modern international order a liberal character … seem to be pulling back from this leadership’ with Britain leaving the EU, ‘the silent bulwark of the Western liberal order’ and Trump’s promise to put ‘America First’ ... Read more

Competing and winning against peer or near-peer adversaries begins with intelligence gathering.

By Lt. Gen. Susan S. LAWRENCE, USA (ret)

Copyright @ 2022 https://www.afcea.org/signal-media/intelligence/presidents-commentary-boosting-osint-use-smart-move
Posted at RIEAS web site at 1 November 2022

Competing and winning against peer or near-peer adversaries begins with intelligence gathering, often in the form of open-source information, or OSINT. Every form of intelligence is vital to national security and defense, but the explosion of publicly available information and the information warfare efforts between Russia and Ukraine has placed OSINT center stage. ... Read more

Prof Glen Segell

(Research Fellow in the Department of Political Sciences and Governance at the University of the Free State – South Africa)

Copyright @ 2022 https://trendsresearch.org/insight/revisiting-the-montreux-convention-of-1936-in-light-of-the-current-conflict-between-russia-and-ukraine/
Posted at RIEAS web site on 1 November 2022.

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

Abstract

This paper examines and revisits the Regime of the Straits, often known simply as the Montreux Convention (1936), which went into effect in 1937. It is an international agreement governing the Turkish Straits that connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and so to the rest of the world. The regime it established is once again on the agenda following the military attack launched by Russia on Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Shortly after the onset of hostilities, Russia initiated a naval blockade of Ukrainian ports. The Convention prevented countries outside of the Black Sea area from sending ships into the Black Sea to break the blockade. In July, an agreement brokered by the United Nations was reached for limited exports of some products, especially grain, through three Ukrainian ports. There was an urgent need for this given that many countries worldwide rely on this grain and that without it hundreds of millions would starve. ... Read more

Shaul Shay
(Senior research fellow at the International Institute for Counterterrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council)

Copyright: @ 2022 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 24 October 2022

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS)

Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, arrived in Israel on October 23, 2022 for a three-day visit to seek protection from Iranian cyberattacks. Prime Minister Rama’s visit came a month after Albania cut diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic after a series of cyberattacks it attributes to Iran. Rama’s delegation includes Albania’s cyber director and the national security adviser and chief spokesperson.
After Albania cut diplomatic ties with Iran, a second cyberattack from the same Iranian source hit an information system - the Total Information Management System (TIMS), a system that records Albanian border entries and exits.... Read more