Since Trump took office in 2017, American foreign policy turned its back on nearly any initiative Obama had undertaken in his two mandates. Trump’s rhetoric, whether we like it or not, is direct, perhaps not elegant and neither diplomatic.Yet, this peculiar approach shall not mislead us in the process of understanding his foreign policy. Trump…
In the realm of compliance and enforcement of values under Article 2 TEU, in particular of the rule of law, multiple solutions have been advanced by constitutional scholars. For instance, interesting to examine are the key academic proposals selected by Kochenov in this respect. Although these academic endeavours may provide policymakers with good food for…
Islam has always been divided into two major factions: Shiites, which are in power on the territories ranging from ancient Persia to the Mediterranean, passing through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and the Sunnis, the majority, dominating the North Africa, the Middle East in the area of the Persian Gulf. Currently, Sunnis are divided into Saudi…
What do technology, green economy and war industry have in common? Lantanoids. This term refers to a group of seventeen chemical elements, present in the periodic table, ranging from lanthanum to lutetium, to which scandium and yttrium are added. These metals are also known as rare earths. The adjective “rare”, however, is not used in…
Africa is not poor, it was always a rich country. The first ones to understand this were the Europeans who, during the second half of the 19th century, initiated a process that today we define as modern colonialism or imperialism, aimed at exploiting the resources of the colonised countries. There was a real race to…
In the last couple of years, the EU has been faced with a new legal challenge: a ‘rule of law crisis’.Poland and Hungary are among the prime examples of Member States in which compliance with the value of the rule of law is questioned and allegations of breaches are being investigated. The paramount legal principle…
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump declared victory against ISIL and announced the withdrawal of approximately 2000 American troops from Syria – a move that has attracted controversy at home and abroad. His fellow Republicans have labelled it a ‘huge’ mistake that may lead to further insurgency, undermine efforts to counter Iranian and Russian influence in…
On November 5, 2018, the United States fully re-imposed the sanctions on Iran that had been lifted or waived under the JCPOA. These are the toughest U.S. sanctions ever imposed on Iran, and will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy, such as the energy, shipping and shipbuilding, and financial sectors. The United States is engaged…
Before getting ready to visit a country like Laos we need to reset all our certainties of what we think we know, because the same terms we use every day, concepts, definitions, values, verbs, in other cultures can take on a meaning completely different. Laos is a very poor country, only the main roads are…
How many times have you heard people referring to Iranians by using the term Arabs? Or people who have hard times in dissociating Arabs from Muslims? Or in distinguishing Arabs from Middle Easterners? Even politicians, journalists and academics themselves make these mistakes and if you have the slightest doubt, this article is what you need.…
