BREXIT, THE EU AND CYPRUS (by Andreas Theophanous). Despite the intense efforts made within and outside the United Kingdom for the country to remain in the EU, Brexit finally prevailed. This constitutes a critical decision for the UK and for the EU. As it has already been noted by many analysts the way the voters expressed their will was not monolithic; to the contrary it was very complex as it … MORE

THE ROAD TO EGYPT: OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES TO THE MONETIZATION OF APHRODITES’S GAS (by Theodoros Tsakiris). Reaching Egypt’s LNG facilities appears to be the only realistically attainable export option for Cyprus and to a secondary extend Israel, at least as long as the AKP continues to rule Turkey. Reaching Egypt though may prove to be more complicated … MORE 

THE RISE AND FALL OF POLITICAL ISLAM (by Farid Mirbagheri). Why and how did political Islam emerge? How is it sustained? And where is it going? Islamist revivalists and reactionaries, from Abdul-Wahhab and Afghani to Iqbal, Qutb, Bin Laden, Baghdadi and others have appeared to attract the attention of some of their Muslim audience across the vast expanse of West Asia, North Africa and … MORE
 
 WAR AS CULTURE – THE ISRAELI CASE (by Dalia Gavriely-Nuri). Does the Israeli war discourse play a part in the recurrence of war? If so, can we identify mechanisms or strategies that are typical of this discourse? The first question presents my basic assumption: that the Israeli war discourse plays an instrumental role in the ongoing participation of Israel in wars. … MORE
 
CYPRUS, GLOBAL GRAND STRATEGY, AND THE CONFLICT IN THE LEVANT (by Anthony Lott). Nodes of institutional flexibility in the international system are difficult to locate. Geopolitical locations where overlapping institutional arrangements make for possibilities of dynamic coordination are fortuitous but require nimble diplomatic maneuvering and long-term foresight among … MORE
 
NEW THREATS AND OLD CHALLENGES: THE FUTURE OF THE NATION STATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST (by Aref N. Hassan). When the Ottoman Empire lost its bid during World War One it also lost its imperial possessions (primarily the Arab territories in the MENA region). The victorious European powers decided to colonize the Arab people instead of giving them their independence as had been … MORE
 
EUROPE: POWER OF INTENTIONS VS POWER OF CIRCUMSTANCES (by Marat Yuldashev). A quote often attributed to one the most powerful rulers on the Euroasian continent in the twentieth century states: “there is the power of intentions and the power of circumstances. And the power of circumstances is always stronger than the power of intentions”. Following the Brexit vote, … MORE

 
 
TURKEY’S RELATIONS WITH NATO AND EU AFTER THE COUP (by Michalis Kontos). In this article I shall examine the possible repercussions in Turkey’s relations with NATO and the EU in the aftermath of the failed coup of 15 July 2016 against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) government. Each one of these organizations have been of … MORE