Praemon

Germany has entered a period of navel gazing, limiting the EU’s ability to become a powerful actor on the world stage. Angela Merkel’s recent victory in the German elections reinforced domestic pressures within Germany to remain pacifist. Policy makers should attempt to strengthen ties politically and institutionally with willing EU partners in the short term.

Recently there has been a deluge of calls for action to topple the Al-Assad regime in Syria in order to stop its bloody crackdown against the opposition movement. Many ideas have been thrown out into the open, the most prominent of which center around an air campaign, using a harsh set of sanctions against the […]

Recently the European Union has been building up to the implementation of “crippling” new sanctions against the government of Iran. These new sanctions were finally revealed on January 23 and their primary focus is on limiting Iran’s oil export capability. Despite the strong rhetoric, these sanctions will not truly be effective in the short-term as […]

A political cartoon depicts President Bashir Al-Assad of Syria as the grim reaper of Syria.             According to the United Nations, over 4,000 people, including over 300 children, have been killed in Syria during the Arab Spring unrest.  The Arab League has repeatedly passed resolutions and sanctions on Syria.  Recently […]

This past week, Mahmoud Jabril, representative of the rebel Libyan government, met with the White House seeking—among other things—diplomatic recognition from the United Sates. The National Transitional Council (NTC) formed officially on March 5, 2011, in Benghazi to manage the affairs of rebel held territory in Libya. However, official US recognition to the NTC was […]