Author: / Publishing Institution: Chatham House

Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: In the Middle East today there are armed groups that have no respect for the humanitarian imperative. What challenges does this present to the Red Cross? I see two key challenges. The first one is very basic. We want to maintain a very close relationship with people affected by conflict, and access these days is more complex because we are in a very polarized environment. Look at the Iraq front–the problem is not new but it is exacerbated. The second issue is to be able to engage governments and non-state armed groups on a very pragmatic basis on issues related to people under their control. That normally works rather well. What I have found more complex these days is to engage them on issues related to international humanitarian law and the Geneva conventions.
Topic:: Humanitarian Aid and Islam
Political Geography:: Geneva, Iraq, and Middle East

Author:: Paola Subacchi
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: The 1970s were years of high inflation in Italy. As the price of goods increased and the lira, a high denomination currency, was debased, the country faced a chronic lack of small change. Those were the years when coins were used to operate all sorts of devices, from pay phones to launderettes, vending machines and jukeboxes.
Political Geography:: Italy

Author:: Keir Giles
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: As recently as November 2012, I was able to write in The World Today that although 'the Russian authorities already possess extremely strong legislative tools for controlling internet content, they ordinarily apply these with a very light touch'.
Political Geography:: Russia

Author:: Alan Philps
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: From the window in Neil MacGregor's office you can see the swirling crowds of visitors in the courtyard of the British Museum. Seven million people a year squeeze through the Museum's narrow door–almost double the number in 2000.
Political Geography:: Britain and Germany

Author:: Ana Stanic
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: Diversification of gas supply has been a strategic priority for the European Union since its dependence on imports began to grow in the early 2000s. The crisis in Ukraine has heightened concerns that the flow of Russian gas passing through this country may be interrupted and has reignited calls for dependency on Russian gas to be reduced. As a new European Commission takes over energy policy in Brussels, it is worth examining the lessons the EU ought to learn from the Southern Gas Corridor project, which for a decade was seen as key to enhancing energy security.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Brazil

Author:: Andrei Kurkov
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: What would you like to see happen to your country? The Ukraine that existed before the events of last year was very peaceful, very tolerant, very quiet–maybe a bit too tolerant to hopeless and corrupt politicians. But now, we have a society that has been radicalized, and in the next parliamentary elections, we will have a lot of new radicals in the parliament. This is partially good because they will fight against corruption, and they will put pressure on the government and the president to carry on the reforms that were promised.
Topic:: Corruption and Reform
Political Geography:: Russia, Ukraine, and Denmark

Author:: Hayder al-Khoei
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani emerged as one of the most powerful men in Iraq. Sistani was already known to Shia Muslims worldwide as the somewhat reticent leader of the religious establishment in Najaf. The fall of the Ba'ath regime thrust him on to the national and international stage.
Political Geography:: Iraq

Author:: Gerard Russell
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: Iraq is being denuded of its ancient communities, and both it and the world are the poorer for it. As the jihadists of Islamic State try to entrench their rule, it is an open question whether Iraq's religious minorities will survive, and if so, how they can be protected. There is another, deeper question, however. How did Iraq come to have so much religious diversity in the first place, and what does this this say about the type of Islam that prevailed there until the 21st century?
Topic:: Islam
Political Geography:: Iraq

Author:: Nicholas Westcott
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: Summits with Africa are in fashion: in August, President Obama hosted America's first; in April, the European Union staged the fourth EU-Africa summit in Brussels; the BRICS countries–Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa–held one in Durban in March last year; and in June 2013 Japan hosted its five-yearly conference on African development in Yokohama. Next year will see the sixth China-Africa summit. South America, South Korea and Turkey, which have all held summits with African leaders in recent years, have pledged return matches in Africa.
Political Geography:: Africa, America, and Europe

Author:: Richard Gowan
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Chatham House
Abstract:: Imagine a dystopian future in which NATO, struggling against Islamist terrorism, has to deploy troops on a constant basis across Africa and the Middle East. Then all of a sudden it is struck by a series of calamities: more than 40 personnel are taken hostage in the Middle East, soldiers start dying on a weekly basis on the edge of the Sahara and an operation to handle an outbreak of ebola begins to spiral out of control. NATO, you might expect, would give up in exhaustion. After Afghanistan, western powers have little appetite for quagmires.
Topic:: NATO
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, Africa, and Middle East

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