Bolder Presence of OIC in the International Arena
For over half a century, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) serves as a focal point for its member states (MS) and as a clearinghouse between its members and the rest of the world....
Author: The Kootneeti Team
Climate Refugees: Why we need a change in Asylum Standards
Despite recent and increasing efforts by the United States and other governments to narrow their interpretations of the refugee definition and to shirk their protection responsibilities, the need to expand the grounds for asylum is becoming...
Are the US and Iran Headed Toward War?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On January 3, 2020, an American drone killed Iran’s roving fixer in the Middle East, Quds commander Qassem Soleimani, sparking intense, but largely partisan, reactions in the US. While Republicans lauded President Trump, many Democrats...
What to expect from a new Lebanese government: “Anti-corruption” as witch hunt
Beyond the imploding Lebanese economy, Lebanon’s incoming pro-Syria, pro-Hezbollah government has a problem. President Michel Aoun and the political forces pulling the strings behind the new cabinet relish the opportunity to unleash, at last,...
Denial of Citizenship as a Weapon of Repression in the Arab World
Executive Summary: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia recently announced that they were revoking the citizenship of individuals whose “sin” was a connection to Judaism and a pro-Israeli attitude. Apart from the institutional antisemitism these measures...
Give me a religion that does not polarise society!
A few years ago in Aceh, a poster was put up by the Islamic Sharia Department in Banda Aceh of the communications and information agency office, stating: “A woman whose strand of hair is...
Revisiting the Ukraine-Russia-EU triangular dynamics
With the narrative that floats around, one is tempted to think that the Ukraine crisis is all about Crimea; that it started and ended there. So what about the internal oblasts like Odessa, Kharkiv,...
Fundamental legacy of The Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials (1945-1948)
These – rather unfortunate – days some voices in Europe are trying, in a quite ahistorical fashion, to question the very fundaments of the anti-fascist legacy. Dangerous and highly destructive equitation attempts are on...
Taiwan stands up to Xi
Taiwan can seem like the third rail of international diplomacy. If a country wants a good relationship with China, Beijing has effectively stated, it cannot have a meaningful relationship with Taiwan. Just this week,...
Unpacking the engagement of nontraditional actors in Africa: China and other emerging players
While China, Europe, and the United States have been intensifying their competition in Africa over the last decade, the next decade is likely to see other players making more prominent moves. Among them, India,...
