There is still doubt in the minds of serious people about Israel’s attack on the Free Gaza flotilla and the events that lead to the death of 9 of the activists aboard. There can be little surprise of…
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Tira una brutta aria per un Afghanistan neutrale
Published: 28/07/201024/07/2010
Original Version: Ill-wind blows for a ‘neutral’ Afghanistan
Forse vi è un’aria, sulle pensose montagne dell’Hindu Kush, che conferisce imperscrutabilità alla politica e alla storia. Quest’aria ha avvolto la conferenza internazionale di Kabul sull’Afghanistan tenutasi martedì scorso,…
Il mistero dello scienziato iraniano: una scia di indizi… ma poche risposte
Published: 18/07/201018/07/2010
Original Version: A trail of clues …. but few answers
La strana storia dello scienziato nucleare iraniano Shahram Amiri recentemente rientrato in Iran lascia aperti molti interrogativi, ma sembra portare alla conclusione che Amiri fosse un doppio…
Lebanese cleric passes into lore
Published: 14/07/2010“Throughout my life, I have always supported the human being in his humanism and I have supported the oppressed. I think it is the person’s right to live his freedom and it is her and his right to face the…
Il voto sull’Iran è un segnale della virata a occidente della Cina
Published: 02/07/201002/07/2010
Original Version: Iran vote shows China’s Western drift
Il voto della Cina a favore delle sanzioni contro l’Iran segna un cambiamento nella posizione cinese nell’arena internazionale, che potrebbe essere causato dalla sempre maggiore interdipendenza economica tra la…
The Iran chip in Sino-Saudi relations
Published: 02/06/2010The fourth joint meeting on economy and trade convened by China and Saudi Arabia in January 2010 in the Saudi capital of Riyadh came and went without much fanfare. Yet the meeting between China, the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing oil…
In Iraq si trascina un pericoloso vuoto politico
Published: 29/05/201029/05/2010
Original Version: Deadly power vacuum drags on in Iraq
La coalizione al-Iraqiya guidata dell’ex premier Iyad Allawi, pur essendo riuscita a riconfermare la propria vittoria elettorale dopo il riconteggio dei voti, rischia di non riuscire a formare…
Iraq – Allawi ahead, but falls behind
Published: 21/05/2010Although ex-prime minister Iyad Allawi has won a court decision and partial recount in the wake of Iraq’s March parliamentary elections, there is still no guarantee he will become the next premier.
On Monday, the appeals court reinstated nine winning…
Arrivano i Talebani americani
Published: 20/05/201020/05/2010
Original Version: The American Taliban are coming
Il fallito attentato di Times Square dimostra che è arrivata l’era dei nomadi del jihad virtuale, individui che agiscono per iniziativa personale, e senza una rete organizzata alle spalle –…
La Siria chiede alla Russia di fare pressioni su Israele
Published: 19/05/201014/05/2010
Original Version: Syria asks Russia to lean on Israel
Il presidente russo Dmitri Medvedev ha fatto notizia, dapprima per aver descritto il suo predecessore Joseph Stalin come un “dittatore totalitario”, e poi per aver compiuto la prima…
Mubarak in a dilemma
Published: 17/05/2010DAMASCUS – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be receiving his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, in Cairo this May. The Syrian leader makes his first visit to Egypt in four years to congratulate Mubarak on a successful gall bladder operation performed…
A Russian-Uzbek challenge to the US
Published: 28/04/2010Reports have appeared in the Russian media doubting the pedigree of the revolution in Kyrgyzstan. Moscow seems to be edging away from the interim administration head, Roza Otunbayeva, a former Kyrgyz ambassador to London and Washington.
The reports hint at…
Syria smarts over Israeli accusations
Published: 17/04/2010DAMASCUS – On April 12, the United States celebrated the 65th anniversary of the passing of its war-time president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Memorable quotes of the leader were published in mainstream media, reminding the world of a man who tried…
L’Iran riscopre il valore delle radici persiane
Published: 12/04/201012/04/2010
Original Version: Iran rediscovers value of Persian roots
Per superare il proprio isolamento, anche in considerazione dei suoi difficili rapporti con i paesi arabi, l’Iran sembra puntare ad una rivalutazione dei valori della cultura persiana – scrive…
Gli USA mietono un amaro raccolto dalla “Rivoluzione dei Tulipani”
Published: 11/04/201011/04/2010
Original Version: US reaps bitter harvest from ‘Tulip’ revolution
La rivoluzione in Kirghizistan rischia di mandare a monte i piani americani in Asia centrale – scrive l’ex diplomatico indiano M. K. Bhadrakumar
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Non è così che…
Hamas: imparare dai propri errori
Published: 31/03/201020/03/2010
Original Version: Hamas: Learning from mistakes
Chiunque abbia assistito alle performance di Hamas, o abbia seguito la sua retorica sin dalla sua fondazione in Palestina alla fine degli anni ’80, si rende conto che il gruppo islamico…
War and peace: A Taliban view
Published: 29/03/2010After an often stormy relationship with the United States over the past 63 years since its independence, Pakistan is in the process of forging an all-embracing strategic relationship with Washington.
A delegation led by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is…
Tehran’s long and winding road
Published: 26/03/2010Greeting the Persian new year, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad looked confidently at the route ahead, promising that the nation “more powerful than ever will continue in the path of its high objectives”. Looming sanctions and other efforts to isolate the…
India savors Russian friendship
Published: 21/03/2010The morning after can be as significant as the day before. What strikes the eye are two developments, in Moscow and Delhi, the morning after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin left the Indian capital on Friday after an eventful working…
Il fantasma di un imam ossessiona il vertice arabo
Published: 18/03/201018/03/2010
Original Version: Imam’s ghost stalks Arab summit
Il vertice arabo previsto il prossimo 27 marzo a Tripoli, in Libia, rischia di essere nuovamente teatro di boicottaggi e di veti incrociati da parte di diversi paesi arabi; fra…
Israele mette in guardia gli USA
Published: 17/03/201013/03/2010
Original Version: Israel puts US on notice
I rapporti tra gli Stati Uniti e il governo israeliano sono stati tesi durante l’anno passato. Quando il vicepresidente americano Joe Biden è giunto in Israele lunedì 8 marzo, cercando…
Iran wants help from a friend
Published: 12/03/2010An unusual alliance has been unveiled after Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad revealed that the recent arrest of Abdulmalik Rigi, leader of the Sunni terrorist group Jundallah, was made possible with intelligence cooperation from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Using his one-day trip…
Suspicions swell as Iraq elections near
Published: 05/03/2010DAMASCUS – The Iraqi government is printing 26 million ballots for the March 7 elections, nearly 35% more than are needed for all eligible voters. Several contesting parties are crying foul play, claiming that the extra 7 million ballots will…
Jundallah arrest proves timely for Iran
Published: 28/02/2010TEHRAN - If the snow-covered Elbruz mountains rising just north of Tehran took on an extra glint in the bright wintry sunshine on Wednesday, there was good reason. It was the morning after the dramatic capture of the 31-year-old leader of…
La guerra segreta degli USA in Afghanistan
Published: 17/01/201017/01/2010
Original Version: The shadow war in Afghanistan
La guerra che gli Stati Uniti stanno combattendo in Afghanistan non è più una guerra tradizionale, ma una guerra “privatizzata” e “appaltata” a contractor e mercenari, sulla base di informazioni…
The shadow war in Afghanistan
Published: 14/01/2010It was a Christmas and a New Year from hell for American intelligence, that US$75 billion labyrinth of at least 16 major agencies and a handful of minor ones. As the old year was preparing to be rung out, so…
US spies walked into al-Qaeda’s trap
Published: 06/01/2010ISLAMABAD – The suicide attack on the United States Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) forward operating base of Chapman in the Afghan province of Khost last week was planned in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.
The attacker – a…
Iraq – Surprises aplenty in selloff
Published: 18/12/2009The distinguishing feature of Iraq’s auction of oil rights this weekend is the relative absence of American companies, in contrast to five weeks ago, when US firm ExxonMobil and Anglo-Dutch Shell signed an agreement to develop the West Qurna Phase…
Clear losers and winners in Baghdad
Published: 12/12/2009DAMASCUS – In the mid-1970s, Syrian playwright Mohammad al-Maghout authored a beautiful scene about accountability in the Arab world. In it, the mayor promises his people serious reform and change, sacking the director of real estate from his post and…
The hypocrisy of al-Demoqratia
Published: 11/12/2009So this is how democracy works?
In 2004, France banned headscarves and school principals chased after young “defiant” Muslim girls who continued to cover their heads in school. Now, following a national referendum, Switzerland has banned the construction of minarets,…
Is Obama’s Iran policy doomed?
Published: 08/11/2009While the tone of the Barack Obama administration is different from that of its predecessor, and some of its foreign policies diverge from those of George W Bush, both administrations subscribe at their core to the same doctrine: whatever the…
Rivals fiddle while Kabul burns
Published: 30/10/2009Political tensions are on the rise in Afghanistan as the country braces for a challenging presidential runoff on November 7.
On October 26, incumbent President Hamid Karzai rejected demands from his election rival, former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, that key…
Where Pakistan’s militants go to ground
Published: 28/10/200923/10/2009 - ISLAMABAD – The massive Pakistani military operation currently underway against militants in the South Waziristan tribal area is the brainchild of General Stanley McChrystal, the top United States commander in Afghanistan. The aim is to spread the Taliban-led Afghan…
L’antagonismo fra Iran e Arabia Saudita raggiunge il punto di ebollizione
Published: 26/10/200926/10/2009
Original Version: Saudi-Iranian hostility hits boiling point
L’attentato che domenica 18 ottobre ha ucciso diversi alti ufficiali della Guardia Rivoluzionaria iraniana nella regione sud-orientale del Sistan_Baluchistan è stato rivendicato da Jundallah, un gruppo sunnita attivo nella regione. Teheran ha…
Sunnis present a new face in Iraq
Published: 24/10/2009DAMASCUS – The Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), the largest Sunni coalition in Iraq, is promising its constituency a major breakthrough in the parliamentary elections set for January.
Last weekend, the Front announced the formation of an all-Sunni coalition that plans…
Saudi-Iranian hostility hits boiling point
Published: 23/10/2009Conventional wisdom suggests that the terrorist strike by Jundallah in southeastern Iran on Sunday might have had the backing of the United States or Britain. But Jundallah today holds “fatal” attraction for a number of foreign powers that are interested…
The ‘other’ Kurdistan seethes with rage
Published: 21/10/200916/10/2009 - QANDIL MOUNTAINS – Iraqi Kurdistan has maintained a reputation for relative tranquility and stability in a diagonal belt across northern Iraq while much of the rest of the country has burned with sectarian nihilism and anti-occupation insurgency.
Three years…
Pakistan warns India to ‘back off’
Published: 17/10/2009The Indian embassy in Kabul has been targeted for bomb attack for a second time in the past 15 months. A least 17 people were killed in Thursday’s attack, when a car loaded with explosives rammed into the embassy’s compound…
La Siria e l’Arabia Saudita tracciano un percorso di pace
Published: 14/10/200908/10/2009
Original Version: Syria, Saudi Arabia plot peace path
La visita del re saudita Abdullah in Siria, la prima da quando è salito al trono nel 2005, è stata salutata dagli osservatori mediorientali come storica e pionieristica.
Abdullah,…
Due “S”, e una “W” a Beirut – siriani, sauditi e americani in Libano
Published: 04/10/200904/10/2009
Original Version: Two Ss, and a W in Beirut
Mentre la costituzione di un governo libanese appare ancora lontana, a Beirut le principali potenze regionali continuano a tessere la loro tela. Se da un lato il riavvicinamento…
Kurdish lessons leave Iraqi Arabs cold
Published: 04/10/2009BAGHDAD – Baghdad teenager Amir Muayyad returned from a holiday in northern Iraq with a couple of words of Kurdish to share with his friends. “I was passing through an area and heard its name by chance – Swara Tukah,”…
Two Ss, and a W in Beirut
Published: 01/10/2009DAMASCUS – This year, Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, coined a phrase that has apparently entered the Lebanese political dictionary – the influence of “the two Ss”, in reference to Saudi Arabia and Syria.
Lebanese politicians have…
A dangerous new Afghan road opens
Published: 23/09/200918/09/2009 - Increased insurgent activity in northern Afghanistan in recent months is likely to force the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to once again re-evaluate its and the United States’ escalation of the war.
Recent events in Kunduz province due south…
Afghanistan by the numbers
Published: 16/09/200910/09/2009 – Here may be the single strangest fact of our American world: that at least three administrations – Ronald Reagan’s, George W Bush’s and now Barack Obama’s – drew the United States “defense” perimeter at the Hindu Kush; that…
Lies and illusions in Afghanistan
Published: 29/07/200918/07/2009 - KABUL – I’ve come back to the Afghan capital again, after an absence of two years, to find it ruined in a new way. Not by bombs this time, but by security.
The heart of the city is…
Nabucco – un accordo che è una dolce musica per le orecchie dell’Iran
Published: 22/07/200915/07/2009
Come a un progetto di gasdotto trans-caspico sia stato alla fine attribuito il nome della famosa opera “Nabucco”, del compositore italiano del XIX secolo Giuseppe Verdi, rimane una cosa non chiara. L’opera è basata su una storia biblica relativa…
Nabucco ink starts to flow
Published: 22/07/200916/07/2009 – The signing this week of a transit agreement to govern the Nabucco natural gas pipeline marks an important staging post in bringing to reality the long-touted energy route, which is projected to run 3,300 kilometers from the Caspian…
Le folli spese dell’impero delle basi americane
Published: 21/07/200921/07/2009
Il recente annuncio della costruzione di una nuova mega-ambasciata americana in Pakistan segue di pochi mesi l’inaugurazione della mastodontica ambasciata americana di Baghdad, la più grande del mondo. Ma l’impero americano delle basi militari e delle ambasciate fortificate è…
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