THE FALL OF THE ISLAMIC SCARECROW AND THE NEW ARAB AWAKENING (by Lea Basma Zerouali). The earthquake which originated in Tunisia and has been shaking the Arab World since the end of December 2010 may rightly and for many reasons be called historical. In this brief article, we shall limit our analysis to two erroneous ideas widely fed for many decades to the Arab people … MORE

IS TURKEY REALLY EUROPEAN? (by Andreas Theophanous). The reaction of the Turkish government following the signing of an agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and Israel on January 13 in relation to the delineation of the sea economic zone between the two countries did not surprise Cypriots but provoked the reaction of Israeli officials as it was seen as far fetched and out of … MORE

GLOBALIZATION, INTERDEPENDENCE AND THE EU’S STRATEGIC PARTNERS (by Ioannis Kasoulides). The EU started off as a project of enhancing the interdependence of a group of countries so as to discourage them from ever going to war again. The great benefits from cooperation were soon made evident and cooperation and interdependence multiplied, and so did the number of … MORE

CYPRUS IS NOT DENMARK, MALTA OR THE ALAND ISLANDS (by Andreas Kyriacou). Imagine for a moment two people who have taken ill and who visit the doctor. The first has a slight fever due to the common cold and a couple of aspirins will do. The other has a strong fever due to a life threatening viral infection and the doctor decides on the same treatment, albeit, with a stronger dose … MORE

SUSTAINING GLOBALIZATION THROUGH FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS: A CHALLENGE FOR THE TRANSATLANTIC COMMUNITY (by Sotiris Serbos). From 2009 onwards, the new US administration acknowledged that the international community should not try to tackle new challenges with old mindsets. More importantly, global challenges are already shifting the centres of economic … MORE

LEBANON: “BIRTH PANGS OF A NEW MIDDLE EAST”? (by Arda Jebejian). Could the conflict in Lebanon last as long as the 100-year war between the English and the French in the Middle Ages (the actual figure is 116)? When we first covered this chapter of history in high school, we were all skeptical and thought historians had the particulars confused. I have to admit that since then I have come … MORE

TURKEY’S REVIVED BALKAN ROLE (by Predrag Vukovic). From the Balkans to the Caucasus to the Middle East, Turkey is focusing on establishing an arc of influence in many countries which were once part of the Ottoman Empire (The National, 2009). This new course has been described as “neo-Ottamanism”. Frustrated by open rejections coming from European capitals such as Paris … MORE

POST CANCUN 2010 – THE HEAT IS STILL ON (by Marios Valiantis). One of the most controversial topics, which is of great political importance for both the International and European strategy, is that of Climate Change. Climate Change is perhaps the greatest challenge of our planet. Humankind’s efforts for the 21^st century focus on limiting the increase in overall global temperature … MORE