The nuclear deal inked in Geneva between Iran and the P5+1 in the early hours of 24 November momentarily closed the curtains on a decade of painful suspense. In this article, Open Briefing contributing analyst Kevjn Lim disassembles the agreement and assesses its implications for Iran and the wider region.
Category: Reports and articles
Education and violent extremism in Nigeria
In this article co-published with openDemocracy, Gustavo Plácido dos Santos asks whether in a context of poor school attendance among Muslims in northern Nigeria is the almajiri system favoured by Boko Haram compatible with a peacebuilding project for the country?
US drone strikes in Pakistan: Ineffective and illegitimate
In this article co-published with SustainableSecurity.org, Shazad Ali and Chris Abbott argue that lack of transparency, dubious effectiveness, civilian casualties and negative consequences for US national security means that Washington needs to re-evaluate its drone strikes programme in Pakistan.
Remote control war: Unmanned combat air vehicles in China, India, Iran, Israel, Russia and Turkey
Open Briefing has identified at least 200 different UAVs in use or in development by China, India, Iran, Israel, Russia and Turkey, with 29 of these being armed drones. The study also assesses the likely future use of armed drones by each country.
Iran’s outreach to Afghanistan and Tajikistan faces obstacles
Open Briefing: For all the focus on contemporary Iran, relatively little attention is paid to its trilateral ties with Afghanistan and Tajikistan, the geolinguistic remnants of an eclectic series of empires collectively denominated Persian.
Untangling Egypt’s web of political and economic challenges
Open Briefing: Minimising IMF financial support through access to Gulf State finance allows Morsi to craft new political narratives that reject views of Egypt as a US client state and redefines Egypt within a framework of Arab nationalism and centre-right political Islam.
Seizing the initiative: Israel’s strategic environment and the need for assertive diplomacy
Open Briefing: Israel’s strategic neighbourhood is in flux and Netanyahu’s second government has responded with reactive cautiousness. However, this dynamic calls instead for more assertive diplomacy and therefore a change in Israel’s current posturing.
Israel votes, and surprises
Open Briefing: Israel finally went to the ballots on Tuesday with the highest turnout since 1999. However, the exit polls are only half the battle won. The real test, as we saw in 2009, lies in actually cobbling together a sustainable coalition of the unwilling.
