While looting antiquities is not a new phenomenon, nowadays the illicit flow of cultural objects is ranked as the third-highest-grossing annual criminal trade worldwide, after drugs and arms. According to the 1999 United Nations Global Report, the yearly value of illicit antiquities trafficking is estimated at around 7.8 billion, behind drugs (160 billion) and arms (100 billion). Thus, it is …

On May 2020, Chinese and Indian troops engaged in an open confrontation in a territory of the disputed border in the Himalayans which both countries claim as being theirs. For 40-days, the two sides engaged in a tense standoff, and on June 15, 2020, violent clashes ensued between the armed forces of both super-powers, with both sides using blunt weapons …

The current Biden administration has expressed its strategic desire to keep the objective of a two-state solution alive, however the support for such a political project among Israelis and Palestinians is at a low point. When President Joe Biden visited Israel and the West Bank, in his recent visit, he emphasized on the importance that the current administration under his …

Armenia is a country with an amazing history and people, but also with an extremely sensitive geopolitical position. Armenia is located within three major regional power: Iran, Turkey and Russia what demands an intensely balanced approach to foreign policy. If we take a closer look at the region, we additionally might see, that Armenia is surrounded by big Muslim states …

Last week North Korea launched an ICBM missile capable of transporting a nuclear weapon with the potential to reach the US mainland, that landed in the Japanese exclusive economic zone close to the island of Hokkaido; this is the second missile fired in one month by North Korea, showing a trend of increased frequency of its provocative actions carried out …

Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country and a traditional outpost for regional security is suffering the last two years from a civil war. The war in the Tigray region, the north part of the country has left thousands of dead, forced millions of people to flee from their homes and pushed parts of the country at the edge of starvation. …

While reports of a soon-approaching recession are making rounds amidst the news of big tech companies laying off their employees, many around the world are anxious about how to survive another economic dip. The impending question is whether the economy barely recovering from the effects of the global pandemic can survive another recession. With inflation rates highest in more than …

Many European States have expressed their intention to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, arguing that the ECT is not in line with their climate goals and that it limits their right to regulate in the public interest. This controversial international investment agreement was signed in the aftermath of the Cold War, when the dissolution of the URSS provided the …

The very same day France withdrew its last military unit from Mali, signaling the end of almost a decade-long operation at the Sahel region that left the country in a crisis, Mali’s foreign affairs Minister, Abdoulaye Diop, in a letter sent to the United Nations Security Council accused France for supporting local armed groups. In the letter, Abdoulaye Diop argues …

After decades of dispute over their shared maritime border, which includes oil and gas fields in the Mediterranean, Israel and Lebanon reached “a historic agreement”, as was described by the Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid. After months of US-brokered negotiations, this deal is a major diplomatic step between the two countries, which are still formally at war and lack diplomatic …