EDITORIAL

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

Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm

Copyright@ https://nordicmonitor.com/2022/10/secretive-turkish-intelligence-unit-set-out-to-strike-greece-in-a-false-flag-operation/

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 Turkish president, who in recent months has repeatedly threatened an invasion of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, plans to deploy a secretive, specially trained unit attached to intelligence agency MIT to escalate tensions with Greece, a NATO ally and neighbor. The MIT unit, the existence of which has never been publicly admitted, is a relatively new tool in the arsenal of Turkey’s intelligence agency and will be put to use for the first time in setting up a clandestine, military-style operation against a Western country. Read more

Reviewer: Raagini Sharma  (RIEAS Analyst)

Copyright @ https://www.foreignaffairs.com (Foreign Affairs Magazine) - posted at RIEAS on 2 October 2022.

Title of Article Review: The end of the Military-Industrial Complex, how the Pentagon is adapting itself to globalisation

Author: William J Lynn III

Source of Article: Foreign Affairs, Vol 93, No. 6 (November / December 2014), pp 104 - 110

Published By: Council of Foreign Affairs

Preserved By: JSTOR (short for Journals Storage), a digital library established in 1995 primarily to store the back issues and contents of books.

The Essence

The author through this article highlights the nuances of the Military-Industry Complex, MIC, a term coined by Dwight Eisenhower, and how it is not effective anymore to ensure the technological edge that the US military has been enjoying for the last seven decades. At one hand, the critical defence technologies are no longer the sole province of the US-based defence companies and at other, the Department of Defence (DoD) has failed so far to tap the technological advancements accrued of globalisation. .. Read more

Raagini Sharma
(RIEAS Senior Analyst)

Copyright: @ 2022 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 18 September 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).

Introduction

The nuclear scenarios are rapidly changing on the global geo-political landscape for various reasons but the prime reasons are firstly, the threat of use of nuclear arsenal by the nuclear-armed nations; secondly, the increase in the stock-pile and the modernisation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by the nuclear states; thirdly, overt and covert aspirations of several countries to acquire nuclear technology and fourthly, the threat of use of nukes by the rogue elements. ... 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: 11 September 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 al Qaeda affiliated al-Shabab has been fighting the Somali government and African Union troops in Somalia for more than a decade, carrying out attacks in Somalia and neighboring Kenya. It adheres to the same global Islamist ideology as Al-Qaeda and has made several public statements pledging allegiance to the group. .... Read more