Five was the number of explosions occurred last May in Kirkuk, a city in the northern Iraq. And it is in this delicate context that the Islamic State (ISIS) has decided to show that it still exists.Many jihadists, in fact, have returned and are returning from Syria. On the basis of what has been stated…
The court case on the Sea Watch captain Carola Rackete is just a move to distract us from the reasons behind migration flows. Destabilization. This is probably the word that best describes the phenomenon of migratory flows that in recent years have increasingly affected European states. I it is true that every human being has…
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…
The EU’s proactivity in dealing with ‘rule of law-related’ matters is undisputed.As emphasised already, the EU actively engages in ensuring that candidate states comply with the rule of law before allowing their accession: this is done by enforcing the Copenhagen Criteria, which have become the customary law on membership. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to…
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…
