A coordinated attack by an Al-Qaida-linked group and Tuareg rebels was the most serious on Mali's Russian-backed military junta in years. After years of dominance, this puts Moscow on the back foot.
[caption id="attachment_55246985" align="alignnone" width="594"] The Bushehr nuclear power plant in the Iranian port town of Bushehr on February 25, 2009. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images) [/caption]
…
[caption id="attachment_55246953" align="alignnone" width="620"] Iranians hold portraits of President Hassan Rouhani as Iran's nuclear delegation returns to Tehran on November 24, 2013. (Fatemeh…
[caption id="attachment_55246930" align="alignnone" width="620"] Women hold a banner reading "Stop Killing Women" and pictures of women killed to denounce violence against women in Turkey on May 11,…
[caption id="attachment_55246881" align="alignnone" width="620"] Yusuf Al-Qaradawi is escorted by a soldier as he leaves Cairo's central Tahrir square on February 18, 2011. (Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty…
[caption id="attachment_55246774" align="alignnone" width="594"] A Tunisian man pays for his coffee with Tunisian dinar bills bearing slogans calling for the Ennahda party to step down from power. …
[caption id="attachment_55246803" align="alignnone" width="620"] GCC Oil and Energy Ministers (L to R) United Arab Emirate's Oil and Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouie, Qatari Mohammed Bin Saleh Al…
[caption id="attachment_55246829" align="alignnone" width="620"] Syrian Kurdish families wait for permission from the People’s Protection Units to cross into Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region on…
[caption id="attachment_55246789" align="alignnone" width="620"] EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (L) speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on November 7, 2013, before the…
[caption id="attachment_55246797" align="alignnone" width="620"] Supporters of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gather on November 17, 2013, during Erdoğan's visit to Bismil. (Mehmet Engin…
[caption id="attachment_55246779" align="alignnone" width="593"] Egyptian troops keep watch at a checkpoint during the curfew hours in Cairo late on August 19, 2013. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)…
The standoff in the Hormuz is not simply a question of whether Tehran can survive economic pressure, but whether Washington can sustain the pressure at an acceptable cost.
The Strait of Hormuz is now poised to become the primary arena of confrontation, with Iran relying on speedboat-driven guerrilla warfare to confront the US navy.
Former regime soldiers are stuck in limbo, as their undocumented status prevents them from working, travelling, and curbs family members' access to education, healthcare and social services