Diplomacy & Crisis News

A deal reached between Russia and Turkey to create a demilitarized buffer zone protecting citizens “from catastrophe” in Syria’s Idlib region is a welcome development, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday, before urging all parties to make a “strong commitment” to it.

But a feud between Russia and the U.S. has kept the document from being published.

Every year, in September, global leaders and change-makers gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York for two weeks, to discuss the burning issues of our time and set the global agenda for the year ahead. The 73rd session of the UN General Assembly opened this week and the body’s annual high-level segment – formally known as the ‘general debate’ – begins on Tuesday, 25 September, where every country’s leader gets to address the world.

Effondrement du système financier ; remise en cause de l'énergie nucléaire ; éclatement de régimes arabes… Si différents soient-ils, les trois grands événements qui ébranlent le monde révèlent de façon criante les limites d'une même logique. / États-Unis, Japon, Monde arabe, Capitalisme, Écologie, Économie, (...) / États-Unis, Japon, Monde arabe, Capitalisme, Écologie, Économie, Énergie, Finance, Idées, Idéologie, Mouvement de contestation, Mutation, Nucléaire civil, Environnement, Crise économique, Crise financière, Néolibéralisme, Réveil arabe 2011- - 2011/07

Dossier d'archives en accès libre. La compréhension de la crise de 2008 reste entravée par la complexité des montages financiers qui l'ont précipitée. Chacun a néanmoins l'intuition que quelqu'une chose comme une arnaque de grande ampleur s'est jouée aux dépens du plus grand nombre. Laquelle prospère (...) / Crise financière, Crise économique, Finance, Économie, Idées, Politique, Mouvement de contestation, Mondialisation - Dossiers

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, on Thursday welcomed the outcome of the third inter-Korean summit this year, and the “important agreements” contained in the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, issued by the leaders of the two Koreas.

Une clameur de liberté s'élève depuis le début du mois d'avril dans nombre de villes de Syrie, avec des appels de plus en plus déterminés à la chute du pouvoir. L'intervention militaire contre les opposants, à Deraa et dans d'autres villes, indique que le régime a fait le choix de la violence. / (...) / Proche-Orient, Syrie, Conflit israélo-arabe, Islam, Minorité nationale, Mouvement de contestation, Violence, Répression, Réveil arabe 2011- - 2011/05

Russian IL-20 four engine aircraft

A Russian four engine IL-20 naval reconnaissance aircraft was shot down seemingly by accident over Syria by Syrian air defense. While initial reports lack significant details, early information seem to point out that due to a possible Israeli missile attack, Syrian air defense was targeting incoming missiles or planes and locked on the IL-20 by radar. Information suggests that an S-200 missile brought down the plane, known to NATO as a SA-5 Gammon, the S-200 while effective, is a system developed during the Cold War era and has limited capabilities due to its age. From the 14 or 15 member crew, there were no survivors.

While newer missile system like the Pantsir and TOR have more advanced equipment to correctly determine the origin and design of aircraft being targeted, systems like the S-200 may be linked with radar systems that could date as far back as the 80s or even 70s era systems. While more modern systems like the BUK-M1 have shot down planes that were misidentified as recently as the Malaysia Airline flight over Ukraine a few short years ago, the coordination and training of several forces operating over Syria along with Western allied and Russian and Syrian air arms was established in order to avoid incidents like those that took place with the downing of the IL-20. Why an old S-200 missile can accidentally down an older IL-20 airplane with modern radar and a coordinated air defense system is puzzling, a tragedy for all involved.

The origin of the IL-20 is an innocent one, being developed as a 1950s era Soviet airliner, the IL-18. The IL-20 likely was in the area working as an airborne radar and detection system or perhaps was the IL-22 or IL-38 version that track naval and submarine activity. With an aircraft such as the IL-20 operating as a known radar and early warning system asset, a coordinated air defense with Russia and Syrian forces and systems should have been keenly aware of the IL-20, as the IL-20 would have been in direct and constant contact with all air assets in the area.

The IL-20 having its origins as a 1950s airliner also possesses some characteristics that should have made it evident on radar that it was not a missile or even a fighter plane. The IL-20 has four propeller or turboprop driven engines, is somewhat large and would have been moving fairly slowly. The radar for the S-200 likely would have been able to determine that it was not a plane that offered significant threats to its target and should have been cautious as it looked more like an airliner or other civilian aircraft.

Using the S-200 to target missiles also deserves some analysis. While an S-200 was able to shoot down one Israeli aircraft this year, to use a rather large and heavy anti-aircraft missile like the S-200 to target incoming cruise missiles seems like it would be quite ineffective. With most of the strikes coming into Syria being cruise or other air-to-ground missiles, an S-200 would likely have not hit any of the main missile threats, despite claims about the performance of the S-200. With most of the actual aircraft being at a fair distance from the targets, an S-200 would be best used on targets that are lower risk than threats it needs to handle. So while a fighter jet might be shot down and an IL-20 certainly would have no protection, individual missiles would require a more effective system and missile than the S-200.

The loss of lives is certainly a tragedy, and almost certainly an error or a malfunction. It is only hoped that a peaceful resolution in Syria can remove the situation where errors like these can ever occur again.

The post Syrian Missile Downs Russian Plane in Error appeared first on Foreign Policy Blogs.

Washington must not ignore atrocities against the country’s Anglophones. It should use existing U.S. laws to force an end to the violence.

The country may seem a haven for clean energy, but that’s because it exports its pollution.

In one gubernatorial race, a scandal might be a sign of Putin’s decline.

Everything from food to oil depends on underpaid and overworked drivers.

Le respect des identités et de leurs cultures, la défiance envers les idéologies du progrès, la critique du rationalisme et de sa prétention à l'universel : autant de caractéristiques d'une sensibilité politique contemporaine qui s'oppose à la conception d'un individu autonome. / Citoyenneté, Culture, (...) / Citoyenneté, Culture, Histoire, Idéologie, Nationalisme, Politique, Religion, Société - 2010/12

Progress that destroys traditional culture, language, land and human heritage “is not development, but willful destruction”, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday, in defence of indigenous peoples everywhere.

Childhood is a time for growth, a time for school. But conflict or disaster are depriving 104 million young people between the ages of five and 17 of that foundation, according to a new study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

It’s expensive to destroy a people without killing them, but Beijing is willing to pay the price.

Le 13 novembre dernier, sa peine d'emprisonnement effectuée, Mme Aung San Suu Kyi était libérée par les généraux au pouvoir. Par ce geste, la junte espère engager des négociations pour lever l'embargo occidental. / Birmanie, Armée, Élections, État, Parti politique, Politique, Dictature - (...) / Birmanie, Armée, Élections, État, Parti politique, Politique, Dictature - 2010/12

With options limited for fighting terrorists, negotiations may be the best remaining alternative.

Due to the intense religious persecution that they face, increasingly minorities are forced to flee the Muslim world.

As time progresses, the Islamic world is becoming more and more homogenous. Fewer and fewer non-Muslims who have lived amongst Muslims since antiquity are choosing to remain in their ancestral homeland. The trend began with the establishment of the State of Israel. After Israel became a country, around one million Jews were compelled to leave the Arab world. Following the Iranian Revolution, many Persian Jews followed in their footsteps. Now, numerous non-Muslim minority groups including Christians, Hindus, Mandeans, and Bahais among others are following in the footsteps of the Mizrahi Jews. The question remains, why?

In Bangladesh, both Christians and Hindus are systematically persecuted. Not too long ago, there was a report that 8 Christian women were assaulted and beaten after a militant group attacked their home. Furthermore, sources within Bangladesh claim that a Hindu temple was vandalized and the Hindu gods were desecrated recently. In another instance, it was reported that a Hindu girl was raped and the girl’s father’s life was threatened. When the mother went to report the incident to the police, she was sexually assaulted, stripped naked and threatened into dropping the case. And according to the World Hindu Struggle Committee, a minority was recently beaten up for refusing to participate in a political rally and the Awami League has proven themselves hostile towards Hindus who seek to run for political office. Given this situation, the World Hindu Struggle Committee claims that an increasing number of Christians and Hindus are fleeing Bangladesh, moving either to India or the Western countries.

For members of the Bahai faith in Yemen, the situation is quite dire. According to the US State Department, the Houthis in Yemen have been persecuting members of the Bahai faith. Amnesty International reported that a member of the Bahai faith was given the death sentence at the beginning of this year for allegedly communicating with Israel. They claimed that six other Bahais were also detained merely for practicing their faith. According to social media reports, there are still Bahais in Houthi prisons merely for being Bahais and no other reason.

Due to experiencing such persecution in Yemen, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, most members of the Bahai faith today live in India, Kenya and the US. Even though the Bahai faith was founded in Iran, the Bahai faith’s international headquarters is located in the State of Israel, as the Iranians destroyed many of the historic Bahai shrines within the country in a manner that is reminiscent of the destruction of the Buddhist statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan. To this day, Bahais are not recognized as a legitimate faith in Iran and are denied the right to study in university, to work and to enjoy any semblance of basic human rights.

The Bahais are not the only faith persecuted by the Iranian regime. The Mandeans, just like the Bahai, are denied the status of a protected faith in Iran. According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Mandeans are systematically murdered and raped within the country due to the fact that the Iranian government considers them to be infidels. They claim that the Iranian courts have ruled that raping Mandean women and girls is part of their purification process and therefore, violators receive impunity. Furthermore, the report claimed that Mandeans are also not allowed to touch food in the markets due to the belief that they are unclean. Due to experiencing such persecution, many Mandeans have immigrated to Canada, the US, Australia and the European Union. In fact, Mandeans were among the group of Iranian political refugees that Trump denied entry into the US.

Given such persecution, minority Hindus, Christians, Bahais, Mandeans and members of numerous other minority faiths originating in the Muslim world have found that if they want the freedom to continue practicing their faith and to live dignified lives, they have no other choice but to leave their ancestral homelands and to immigrate to democratic countries. For this reason, it is of pivotal importance that the Trump administration admits not only Christians but all other religious minorities from the Islamic world into the United States because these religious groups have no other way of surviving and thriving as a people since the radical Islamists have deprived them of any other opportunity to live a good and free life in their native lands.

The post Why are the non-Muslim minorities leaving the Islamic world in droves? appeared first on Foreign Policy Blogs.

Ill-advised land swaps and population transfers won’t bring peace. They’re more likely to revive the bloodshed that plagued the Balkans during the 1990s.