In The News

Yemen Isn’t Just a Proxy War Between Saudi Arabia and Iran

Laura Kasinof October 18, 2016
The United Nations announced a 72-hour ceasefire for the war in Yemen. The pause, just after the US Navy fired missiles into Yemen in response to attacks on US ships in the Red Sea, may prevent expansion of the war that has killed more than 10,000 and displaced more than 3 million Yemenis. Yemen’s war and politics are complex, explains Laura Kasinof for Slate. Communist South Yemen and North...

Analysis: How the Colombian Peace Deal Fell Apart

Alan Gomez October 3, 2016
After years of civil war, amid sentiments that Colombian leaders failed in addressing rural concerns, a rebel movement emerged in 1964. “People around the world were stunned when Colombians voted down a peace deal that could have ended a 52-year battle between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC,” reports Alan Gomez for USA Today. “The main reservation...

US to Russia: Stop Aleppo Assault or Syria Talks End

September 30, 2016
Horrific scenes from Aleppo are released to the world daily – streets empty except for rubble, wounded children, and dire shortages of food, water and other basic supplies. The United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries have taken sides in the civil war that has raged since 2011. Ceasefires do not hold, and the power vacuum has opened space for multiple terrorist groups...

Even Peace May Not Save Syria

Robin Wright September 20, 2016
Russia and the US had tried for a ceasefire, starting September 12, that lasted a week. Fighting has resumed after the United States mistakenly fired on Syrian troops and then accused Syrian troops of firing on an aid convoy. Russia and Syria each denied striking the convoy. The UN has suspended aid deliveries and a consensus has emerged among experts that Syria may never be a united country...

Yemen: The War Canada Can’t Afford to Ignore

Elizabeth Renzetti August 29, 2016
Yemen, a country of 25 million, has become a focal point for a proxy war between rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. Elizabeth Renzetti, in her Globe and Mail column, urges countries to reconsider supplying arms used in a brutal conflict resulting in thousands of civilian casualties. The median age in Yemen is under 19. A ceasefire ended in August, and Médecins Sans Frontières and many journalists are...

Scramble in the Horn

James Jeffrey August 24, 2016
Landlocked Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country with more than 96 million people. Conflict lingers between Ethiopia and Eritrea since the latter obtained independence in 1993. “The fighting that broke out at the Ethiopia-Eritrea border on 12 June, reportedly involving artillery and tanks, resulting in hundreds killed and wounded, has highlighted how old-fashioned power politics has...

Syria Jarablus: Turkish Tanks Roll Into Northern Syria

Pinar Sevinclidir August 24, 2016
A dozen Turkish tanks and other vehicles have entered the Syrian town of Jarablus, a few kilometers from the border. “President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the operation was aimed against both IS and Kurdish fighters,” reports BBC News. “Turkey shelled Syrian Kurdish forces in the region this week, determined not to let them fill the vacuum if [the Islamic State] leaves.” The five-year war is...