The word and deed of foreign affairs — in the beginning was the Word

Analysis of reasons and circumstances that triggered the geopolitical conflict around Iran inevitably suggested the role of diplomacy in foreign policy. Without doubt, any international relations student is aware that diplomacy is an extension of politics. Alas, modern foreign policy bodies of several countries have apparently forgotten this common truth.

Oil, blood and hypocrisy

Everyone, who looks through the newspaper headlines every now and then, is certainly aware that today the world stands at the threshold of new major armed conflict that is about to grow into a full-scale war featuring nuclear states. Centre of the conflict lies at the heart of Middle and Near East, covering a part of Central Asia, too. Why the scent of war is so strong in the air of that region?

IRAN-TURKEY-SYRIA: IS THE FORECAST COMING TRUE?

It is yet unclear whether Turkey will find the stomach to invade Syria. We can’t rule out the possibility that the “leaks” regarding the prepared action are only intended to frighten Syria and Iran. Yet, if Turkey makes up its mind for this, Middle Eastern theater of war is to go through a total scenery change.

TURKEY–IRAN: APPROACH AND RIVALRY? Part II

Competing for influence over the Middle East, Ankara and Tehran will inevitably clash in Syria

Competition of Turkey and Iran in Syria is accompanied by simultaneous Turkish self-assertion in the Western direction. Turkey makes the USA and the EU accept the fact that they would have to recognize leadership of Ankara in the Islamic world — age of direct influence over the Middle Eastern countries is coming to an end.  New, post-revolutionary layout in the region will seemingly be characterized by indirect influence of major Western world powers on the settlement of Middle Eastern peace.

TURKEY–IRAN: APPROACH AND RIVALRY? Part I

Erdoğan fights Ahmadinejad for sympathies of Arabs

Middle East has once again become the ball game that drawn the attention of entire world. Former empires — Turkey and Iran — approach each other, although desperately competing with each other at the same time. Arabian world is at stake in this struggle of no joke. And that’s quite a lot in any sense — 35 million hearts, minds and wallets.

Eight years that changed America. Part II

8. Iraq. The Iraq war was a screw-up of such colossal magnitude that it's easy to forget how many discrete screw-ups went into the making of it. There were the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and the nonexistent links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. There's the humiliating spectacle of Secretary of State Colin Powell presenting hours of bogus testimony to the U.N. Security Council. There was Paul Wolfowitz's bizarre claim that the war would pay for itself, when the real price tag is now in excess of $1 trillion. And let us not forget the 4,000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, more than 30,000 American soldiers wounded, and several million Iraqi refugees forced to flee their homes. A strategy that was supposed to bring U.S.-friendly democracy to the Middle East instead produced an empowered Iran and a more fragile balance of power in the region. The only thing more astonishing than the scope of these blunders is the fact that the former president does not regret his decision, even now.

Homework for the Summit in Lisbon

Meeting in Baku

Today’s NATO summit in Lisbon is so important for its participants that each side — having expected certain results — didn’t hesitate to do its part of the homework in order to demonstrate their true intentions to their partners. American President publicly given his Russian colleague to understand that he remembers all of their preliminary oral arrangements. He gathered some sort of an Advisory Council and — in the presence of his aides, including Henry Kissinger (creator of the „shuttle diplomacy” term) — held a speech regarding the START treaty. Railroading the latter through the Congress after his failure at the mid-term elections wouldn’t be a piece of cake this time.