Although all along the European Union’s existence there have been numerous attempts to debate the subject of an autonomous European defence, which would make the Union less dependent on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in security and defence, so far we cannot talk about a real common European defence. The European defence keeps on being ensured by the Alliance, and the transatlantic link becomes more important than ever after 1990 given the threats from South and East which the Euro-Atlantic community, including the European Union, must face.

The Egyptian Israeli peace process during 1977-1979 was a shock to the jihadist movement in Egypt, that had been under repression ever since Nasser’s political rule. Encouraged by the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Egyptian jihadists - inspired by the ideologue Muhammad Abd Al-Salam Faraj and advised by colonel Al-Zumar (an intelligence officer) - decided to assassinate the president Anwar Al-Sadat during the military parade dedicated to the celebration of the Yom Kippur War. The attempt was to be accompanied by a popular revolt. Even though the revolutionary project failed, the assassination of Sadat had a major impact on the history of the Middle East: the Arab-Israeli peace process would stop, and the jihadists involved in the conspiracy would leave for Afghanistan and to the USA, becoming the decisive factor behind the birth of Al-Qaeda and the plan to strike down the New York twin towers.

During its modern history - marked mostly by the Sykes-Picot agreements in 1916, where Great Britain and France shared the vilayets and Ottoman provinces in the Middle East, then in 1947 by the famous “Partition Plan”, when the UN separated historical Palestine in two entities (Jewish and Palestinian Arabic) followed a year later, in May 1948, by the birth, in the Middle East, of the state of Israel - this troubled piece of the global political geography has known just a few, and short-lived moments of peace.

In 1929, five years after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and of the centuries old institution of Islamic Caliphate, caused by the blows of the winning empires from the 1st World War and by the reformism of the “father of modern Turkey” Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in Ismailia, Egypt, a theologian and imam, Hassan Al-Banna, founded the Muslim Brotherhood. The movement was meant to be an Islamic organization intended to stand against the British imperial rule over Egypt.

Turkey-NATO relations have a history of challenges more or less since Turkey’s accession to NATO in 1952. Strained relations between Turkey and NATO have begun long before Turkey’s alleged failed coup attempt on 15 July 2016. However, the failed coup attempt increased tensions further and it is fair to assume that these tense relations are likely to continue. At the same time, Turkey-NATO relations are constrained by a not yet amended North Atlantic Treaty of 4 April 1949. As long as the treaty remains not updated very little can be done to change the nature of Turkey-NATO relations.

”Something very big has just happened.” This was the phrase that president Trump posted on Twitter on the night between the 26th and 27th of October. He didn’t provide any details but promised that the next day would make a clarifying statement.

The Colapse of the Moldova’s Broad-Based Governing Coalition

The Colapse of the Moldova’s Broad-Based Governing Coalition

Compared to other policy fields, the involvement of the European Union (EU) in counter-terrorism is a relatively recent development. Traditionally, European countries faced with a terrorist threat, such as the United Kingdom (UK), Italy, Spain and West Germany, addressed it largely on their own. One of the main reasons for this lack of European cooperation was the commonly held view that each European state was confronted by a distinct threat

Starting with May, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz were once again in the forefront of the confrontations and strategic rivalries amplified by a state of neither peace nor war that is characteristic to the climate of the relationship between the western community (or at least a part of it) lead by the USA on one hand and the Iranian theocratic regime on the other.