In The News

The Not-So-Good News About the Border Crisis

Emily Schwartz Greco November 10, 2014
Since summer, the number of child immigrants arriving at the border has decreased by 7,000 per month – a drop attributed to increased detention of children seeking refugee status and growing xenophobia in the United States. US foreign policy for Latin America, whether interventions on the drug trade or discouragement of family planning, has contributed to crises in countries like El Salvador and...

Syrians to Be Trained to Defend Territory, Not Take Ground From Jihadists, Officials Say

Rajiv Chandrasekaran October 24, 2014
One measure of military success is installation of sustainable and stable governance. But that seems unlikely in the chaotic Middle East. The United States is leading a coalition to fight the Islamic State, which has terrorized communities with beheadings and even reports of chemical attacks. The United States has limited its intervention to air attacks in Syria and Iraq. The plan is to identify...

Europe's Deadly Borders: An Inside Look at EU's Shameful Immigration Policy

Maximilian Popp September 16, 2014
European nations fiercely protect their borders, and Frontex is the continent’s border agency. “But now the civil war in Syria is creating millions of new refugees, and the next exodus is beginning in Iraq, as the terrorist group Islamic State continues to make inroads into the country,” writes Maximilian Popp for Spiegel Online. Popp notes that EU policies have not changed since the tragic 2013...

Turkey Struggles as “Lone Gatekeeper” Against Islamic State Recruitment

Nick Tattersall and Mariam Karouny August 27, 2014
Thousands of foreign fighters from Turkey, Europe and the United States have crossed the Turkish border with Syria, eager to join the brutal Islamic State group. Early in the Syrian uprising, Turkey maintained an open border to allow safe passage for refugees and support for moderate Syrian rebels. “That policy now appears to have been a miscalculation and has drawn accusations, strongly denied...

Climate Refugee Threat in Tropics Rises, International Action Lags

Roxane Horton July 23, 2014
There is no easy way to put it – the tropics can expect an apocalyptic future not of their making. Severe storms, droughts and rising seas will pose water and food shortages, unrest, conflicts over territory. More desperate refugees are anticipated from a region where more than two thirds of the world’s poor live. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees dismisses massive international migrations...

The Palestinian National Reconciliation: Regional and International Implications

Fadi Elhusseini June 26, 2014
After seven years, fragmented Palestine has come together to form a unity government that has implications for the entire Middle East. Unrest and conflict throughout the Middle East prompted compromise, suggests Fadi Elhusseini in the Middle East Monitor. “Developments in Syria and its repercussions in Lebanon have also prompted the Palestinian factions to reconsider their domestic policies.” He...

Palestinian Agreement on Unity Government Troubles Israel, US

Ahmed Abuhamda and Nicholas Casey April 25, 2014
Palestine factions plan a unity government, and United States and Israel argue the move undermines peace talks shepherded by US Secretary of State John Kerry. The West Bank has been controlled by Fatah and Gaza Strip by Hamas, a group committed to the destruction of Israel. The Israeli prime minister canceled a meeting of peace negotiators and Hamas reported Israel fired rockets into the Gaza...