One year ago, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for the cessation of violence both on battlefields and in homes amidst global COVID-19 lockdowns. Yet, despite countless organizations supporting and promoting the Secretary-General’s plea, the U.N., and its partners continue to report acts of rape, sexual slavery, forced sterilization, and other
For the first time in two years, the U.S.-led global coalition to fight ISIS met in Rome on June 25th. Co-chairing the meeting, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio called for the creation of an African task force to face the rising ISIL threat on the continent. While ISIL has
The Armenian and Russian defense ministers, Harutyunyan and Shoigu, met on 28 May to discuss the possible deployment of Russian border guards on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. This was reported by the Yerevan Dicastery, according to which the deployment should take place in the provinces of Gegharkunik and Syunik. Harutyunyan noted
On Saturday, 12 June, the Group of Seven (G7) nations revealed plans for a major infrastructure program for lower-income countries. This program, dubbed the “Build Back Better World” (B3W) initiative, is clearly intended as a Western-aligned alternative to Beijing’s ‘Belt and Road’ (BRI) infrastructure initiative, which some commentators believe to
