Articles
Article
10 April 2014
We need to talk about Mali
Mali is the best example of a country where governmental, judicial and educational shortcomings let Islamist groups establish themselves.
EFD Senior Policy Director Magnus Norell discusses the UN intervention in Mali and the Islamists’ possible reaction to it....
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Article
09 April 2014
Muslim Brotherhood out to conquer Europe
The article follows a statement of concern as to the Muslim Brotherhood's background and motives, issued by British Prime Minister David Cameron, and the subsequent response from the Muslim Brotherhood....
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Article
03 April 2014
Migration board should have a bad conscience
In the below article, EFD Senior Policy Advisor Magnus Norell assesses and criticises the performance of the Swedish Migration Board (MV)....
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Article
01 April 2014
Russian airborne troops descend
EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya contributed to OE Watch’s researches on security issues in Russia.
During the Ukrainian crisis, Russian airborne troops began a high-intensity military training involving thousands of soldiers....
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Article
01 April 2014
Russian military in Crimea: Convoys from the North Caucasus and land mines
In a monthly Operational Environment Watch commentary, EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya discusses Russian security issues.
Despite Russian declarations that only Crimean militias were involved in military engagements in Ukraine, it has been proved that also Russian convoys entered into Crimea’s territory....
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Article
01 April 2014
Ukraine crisis reverberates in Russia: the Caucasus connection
EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya contributed to OE Watch’s researches on security issues in Russia.
Analyses of the Ukrainian crisis seem to reveal a possible military connection with the Caucasus....
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Article
30 March 2014
Migration border sets new record
In an article published by Swedish newspaper Göteborgs Posten, EFD Senior Policy Adviser Magnus Norell writes about refugees in Sweden, illegal immigrants and self-deportation....
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Article
28 March 2014
Here comes Al-Sisi, the new Nasser
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo, in an article published on La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, opines that Al-Sisi's presidential candidacy echoes that of Nasser: both are very charismatic men, oppose the Muslim Brotherhood and are against outsider intervention in Egypt (In Al-Sisi's case from the US and the EU)....
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Article
26 March 2014
Professor who failed to support Putin line on Crimea fired
Andrei Zubov and Aleksandr Konkov lose their jobs after speaking out against Crimean invasion...
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Article
26 March 2014
Tatars may hold own Crimean referendum
EFD's Anna Borshchevskaya reports that Crimean Tatars may hold their own referendum on whether to join Russia or Ukraine....
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Article
25 March 2014
Purge of the Muslim Brotherhood, a fatal error
Following an Egyptian court’s ruling of March 2014, which condemned 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death, EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo expresses her concerns about the problematic impact this decision could have for Mansour’s government, both at a domestic and international level....
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Article
23 March 2014
The Muslim Brotherhood claim revenge on Saudi Arabia
An announcement made on 7th March from Saudi Arabia claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood was inserted in their list of terrorist organisations took the Islamist group by surprise. EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo analyses the historic relations between Saudi Arabia and the Islamist group...
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Article
20 March 2014
Echoes of the past
Analysts draw comparisons between Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler following the Russian president’s speech announcing the annexation of Crimea on March 18....
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Article
17 March 2014
The deception of the Arab Spring and the increasingly unstable Middle East
EFD Researcher Giovanni Giacalone on the 'redefining' of the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring....
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Article
13 March 2014
Iran: women have been veiled for 35 years
This is the thirty-fifth year that it is compulsory by law for women to wear the hijab in Iran. EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo discusses that the hijab is used in Iran as a vehicle to subordinate women....
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Article
10 March 2014
The slow decline of the Muslim Brotherhood
Following the court decision in Egypt to outlaw the Palestinian group Hamas, Giovanni Giacalone discusses the increasing isolation of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East....
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Article
10 March 2014
West must do better on Ukraine than it did with Syria
Ukrainian protesters in Kiev last month, for their part, flew the Syrian revolutionary flag alongside the Ukrainian flag. The big question, though, is whether the West will see the connections that the protesters see – and draw some vital lessons....
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Article
08 March 2014
Egypt bans Hamas and Saudi Arabia’s Muslim Brotherhood
Giovanni Giacalone on the court order in Egypt to ban all activities of the radical Palestinian group Hamas....
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Article
06 March 2014
The inevitable decline of Erdogan
Giovanni Giacalone on the decreasing popular support in Turkey for Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP....
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Article
04 March 2014
Jihadists massacre Egyptian Copts
In Libya, Egyptian Copts are being persecuted and tortured. EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo observes that whilst in Libya simply looking for work, Egyptian Copts are accused by jihadists, salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood of being the cause of the ousting of Muhammad Morsi in 2013....
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Article
03 March 2014
The crisis in Yarmouk and the silence of pro-Palestinian activists
Giovanni Giacalone on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, Damascus....
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Article
01 March 2014
How Stable Are the South Caucasus? New Hostilities over Nagorno Karabakh?
In a monthly Operational Environment Watch commentary, EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya looks at conflicting viewpoints regarding Russia's involvement in a potential war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region....
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Article
01 March 2014
Putin keeps jihadists at bay and ‘saves’ the Olympics
Following the ultimately peaceful Sochi Olympics, Giovanni Giacalone discusses the widespread security concerns which had surrounded the games....
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Article
01 March 2014
Putin’s Proposal for the EU to Join the Eurasian Economic Union
In a monthly Operational Environment Watch commentary, EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya reports that Vladimir Putin, at a summit held in Brussels, after discussions on the political crisis in Ukraine, suggested that the EU should join the Eurasian Economic Union. This proposal, according to Russian experts, would mean that Ukraine would not need to sign free trade agreements with the EU, thus remaining under Russian influence....
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Article
01 March 2014
Russian-Egyptian Military Cooperation Highlights Russia’s Influence in the Middle East
In a monthly Operational Environment Watch commentary, EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya highlights how increased military cooperation between Russia and Egypt demonstrates Putin's growing interest in the MENA region as U.S. interest declines....
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Article
28 February 2014
Against harmful religious teachings in schools
Ahmad Mansour stresses the importance of German schools providing lessons on Islam, but also calls for the content of these classes to be assessed to prevent extremist and potentially damaging narratives being conveyed to young people....
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Article
26 February 2014
Ukraine needs support of Western democracies
Ukraine is confronted with an alarming situation, where democracy is threatened. EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya calls on the Western powers to intervene in Ukraine and support the country against the risk of civil war....
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Article
24 February 2014
Egypt: a Coptic Christian woman leads the Dostour party
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo underlines the exceptional nature of the Egyptian elections, which resulted in the overwhelming victory of a Coptic woman as leader of the liberal party al-Dostour....
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Article
24 February 2014
Religion and politics: a difficult marriage
The equation between Islam and politics seems to be accepted as a matter of fact. However, not everyone in the Arab world share this common belief. In the below article, EFD Researcher Giovanni Giacalone tries to clarify the difficult relation between religion and politics....
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Article
21 February 2014
Chaos in Ukraine. The chronicle of fear
EFD Researcher Giovanni Giacalone describes the Ukrainian situation, where several people have been injured in unrest in Kiev. Giovanni foresees secession as possible scenario for Ukraine in the next months....
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Article
19 February 2014
Middle-East eyes on Moscow, not Washington
On February 2014, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had his first visit abroad. His decision to visit Moscow, rather than Washington, demonstrates weakened US-Egyptian relations....
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Article
19 February 2014
The U.S. Must Lead on Ukraine
Increasing violence is spreading in Ukraine. According to EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya it is time for the United States to "show decisive leadership" and intervene in the conflict to protect freedom in Ukraine....
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Article
17 February 2014
Enhancing security cooperation in Western Maghreb
On February 18, Moroccan King Mohammad IV, is visiting Mali. The trip is part of an ongoing Moroccan strategy to use a 'soft-power' approach in dealings with her neighbors to the South and South-West. This approach is intended to pursue Moroccan political and business-interest throughout the region, but doing so in such a fashion that it is not perceived as threatening or intrusive. On the contrary, it's an approach modeled to extend Moroccan kno...
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Article
15 February 2014
Erdogan’s Turkey: from model democracy to repressive regime
In an article published by L'Intellettuale Dissidente, EFD Researcher Giovanni Giacalone discusses how Erdogan's Turkey is becoming more and more anti-democratic. This analysis follows recent censures, repression of freedom of speech and general abuse of power....
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Article
14 February 2014
The betrayal of the revolution, in Syria civilian mass executions
EFD Researcher Giovanni Giacalone goes through the events of the Syrian village of Ma’an, where 40 people, accused of being supporters of the regime, have been publicly murdered....
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Article
14 February 2014
The development of home-grown jihadist radicalisation in Italy
Changes in immigration patterns have led to serious problems of integration in several European countries. Starting from the example of Italy, EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino addresses the topic of home-grown jihadist radicalisation in Europe....
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