EDITORIAL

Dayla Ramsey
(RIEAS Research Associate, & Author, “Eliminating Opposition: The Belt Road Initiative and Security Implications for the Mediterranean as China Leverages Economic Influence”, RIEAS Publication, January 2020, Athens, Greece)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr)  Publication date: 27 April 2020

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

Pandemic is something every government should prepare for in the hopes that it will never happen. As it stands, the United States is now scrambling to cope with the spread of COVID-19 as this new respiratory virus disrupts life as we all know it. The US is not the only country to suffer the economic set-backs of quarantine and social distancing; this pandemic has exposed the lack cohesive leadership response and serious investment in control mechanisms to lessen the impact of variables that threaten to do more damage than war in many countries. Not that leadership is entirely to blame, each citizen must have the motivation to adhere to rule of law at the expense of personal freedom if society is to endure and return to full economic capacity in the foreseeable future...Read more

Tassos Symeonides
(RIEAS Academic Advisor)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 20 April 2020

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

“Coronavirus” has entered our vocabulary with a passion and the devastating power of a galactic big bang. As we speak, the impact of the pandemic upends government policies, international and domestic economic relations, defense and world health policies, public confidence in those who rule, and the established state itself.

Inevitably, the “post-pandemic” world will be changed to its core. Any recognized “balance of power” will deteriorate fast and, if it survives, it will be unrecognizable vis-a-vis the pre-pandemic universe. The global players, beginning with the United States and China, face the extreme test of pivoting “at speed” to maintain their influence and expand their alliances at the expense of lesser actors. ..Read more

Eyal Pinko
(The writer is a navy commander (ret.), and a former head of division in the Israeli security services. A researcher and a lecturer in the security and maritime strategy, intelligence and cyber.)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 7 April 2020.

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

Background

At the end of 2019, Turkey signed an agreement with Libya, which gave Turkey the control of Libya's maritime territory and established in practice a maritime "corridor" in the eastern Mediterranean.

Controlling the maritime territory will let Turkey control vessel movement, the natural gas reservoirs, and the gas pipes in the area. For example, the pipes need to lay down from Israel to Greece and Italy.

The agreement caused the dissatisfaction of the countries Greece, Egypt, Cyprus, Israel, and France, as well as the resentment of the UN, which didn't approve the agreement. ...Read more

By Musa Khan Jalalzai

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 7 April 2020 This article is exclusive for RIEAS.

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

Citizens of five central states have joined the ISIS networks to take the war into the region and inflict fatalities on civilian population. Russia is a strong country in case of law enforcement and intelligence infrastructure, but newly established commando units of the ISIS have gained professional approach to traditional and guerrila war. As far as foreign fighters and the ISIS are concerned, prior to the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Central Asia had periodically seen trickles of citizens leaving to fight in Syria and Iraq. In domestic stability, states of Central Asia are better than Pakistan, Afghanistan and some states of the Gulf region, but the fear of chemical and biological war has vanished their dream. The threat of returned fighters moving underground and engaging in terrorist attacks is greater if there is no process to reintegrate and absorb them into a reasonably open society...Read more

By Musa Khan Jalalzai

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 31 March 2020

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 recent coronavirus attacks authenticate my postulation of the intensification of bioterrorism in Europe and Asia in 2020. The blame game between Washington and China further prompted misunderstanding about the hegemonic role of the US army that it wants to mitigate the future role of nuclear weapons and missile technology in peace and war. ..Read more

Cmdr (res.) Eyal Pinko
(Competitive Intelligence and Cyber Consulting, Ph.D. candidate Strategy, Defense and Intelligence studies, Bar Ilan University, Israel)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 31 March 2020

An outbreak of virus was first detected in December 2019 (and maybe even earlier) in Wuhan city of China. The cause of the outbreak was identified as a virus from the Corona family (SARS-Cov-2), Which belongs to a family of respiratory viruses that usually cause mild respiratory morbidity. However, viruses from this family have also caused epidemics of severe respiratory infections and death on a wide scale....Read more