... unemployment, devastating levels of corruption, and bad governance. The spoils of diamonds could provide an undeniable avenue to engender sustainable development. However, if history is a guide, the examples of Angola, Sierra Leone, and Democratic Republic of Congo offer instructive lessons of destructive...

...Valentina Rita Scotti After the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, and thanks to the better definition of the actors involved in external relations it provided, the European Parliament (EP) has acquired a greater role in European Union's (EU's) foreign policy and increased its...

...P. R. Kumaraswamy; Manjari Singh The ability of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to provide basic food to its citizens and inhabitants and thus ensure food security has been hampered by a host of physiological factors and resource constraints. Some of the periodic social upheavals and violence...

..., health, and education. The restoration of the Jewish cemeteries in Morocco, and growing adjacent to them community fruit tree nurseries, provides a vivid example of this model of linking multiculturalism and sustainable development. A different example involving the restoration of the historic mellah...

... of regions. This essay provides an overview of the gathering clouds. Peter Brock, a career newspaper journalist, is the author of Media Cleansing: Dirty Reporting — Journalism and Tragedy in Yugoslavia . He holds numerous professional awards, including the Southern Journalism Award for Investigative...

...” position in Serbia resigned themselves to the compromise. The central argument is that states seek to secure mobility not only for economic reasons but also to mark themselves as normal, respectable members of the international community. Serbia’s visa waiver decision provides a lens with which to view...

...Jamie Coomarasamy The essay summarizes a recent reporting trip by the author to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan for the BBC, during which he examined the reasons for and observed the practical impact of China’s growing influence in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. The author provides...

... initial postwar positions. Aden played a vital role in this decision making while providing a rough proxy of larger geopolitical trends. Craig A. Harrington is a researcher based in Washington, DC, who specializes in Anglo-American diplomacy. He holds a master of arts in global, international...

... established regimes the space they need to sort out their futures. Meanwhile, Washington should further strengthen relations with the non-Arab Middle Eastern “peripheries,” specifically, Israel and Turkey. Also, the nuclear deal signed between Iran and major global powers in November 2013 provides...

...Spyridon N. Litsas Since 2010 Greece has been between a rock and a hard place. In particular, since May 2010 the so-called troika (European Commission, International Monetary Fund, and European Central Bank) has provided financial support to Greece through an economic adjustment program while...

... with nontraditional security provides a solid foundation, as proved by antipiracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden. This paves the way for nontraditional security cooperation in the Mediterranean region, for instance in the field of noncombatant evacuation. Yet a crucial precondition is that the EU behaves more coherently...

...Yossef Ben-Meir This essay provides programmatic and administrative recommendations for the effective building of civil, governmental, and private capabilities to help implement human development driven by local communities in Morocco in light of the Arab Spring. The essay relates a human...

... emerge in NATO's ranks today. Yet worrisome manifestations of authoritarianism and intolerance have surfaced in several members. Two NATO countries, Hungary and Turkey, have engaged in repeated autocratic behavior reminiscent of Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia. Such developments provide yet another...

... after the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, the widening divergence in interests between Turkey and Israel have provided the geopolitical impetus for the development of a rapprochement between Greece and Israel. While political, military, and economic cooperation, in particular, between Israel and Greece have...

... non-oil-producing states struggled to provide better living conditions to their populations. Meanwhile, the war in Syria continued, the Islamic State (ISIS) was extending its efforts to establish a caliphate, and a massive influx of refugees was reaching Central Europe seeking asylum. In this context...

..., it also exposes a small state's limited capability to provide support for the parliament's external relations. With specific reference to the Mediterranean, we find that there is considerable room for improvement, even with some evident obstacles, such as the lack of continuity in parliamentary...

... the historical roots of the current confessional-political conflict. Second, it provides an overview of the Muslim Brotherhood – led 1979 – 82 rebellion and its defeat in Hama. Third, it discusses the role that the Muslim Brotherhood revolt plays in the current conflict. Fourth, it analyzes jihadist infighting...

... the terrorism problem and the increasing instability of the region as a whole have put pressure on the Turkish government to act decisively. Much of this pressure comes from secularists and the army itself, both of which criticize the ruling AK Party because of its failure to provide security. The decision...

... such as the worsening conditions in Iraq, and the deepening problems in the Palestinian.Israeli debacle, currently constrain Turkey.s potential to serve the Middle East region in the capacity of soft.security provider by means of creating inspration for democratization and socioeconomic developments. Mediterranean...

..., and minority expansionism. In the post–Cold War era, European Union enlargement in the area assisted the establishment of a core of systemic stabilizers that could, under certain conditions, absorb inherent instability. Greece and Bulgaria constitute an axis providing eufunctional input to the regional...