Libya at a critical juncture

On April 4, 2019, the putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar started his well-funded and well-supported campaign to take Libya's capital Tripoli and topple the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) run by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. Haftar's forces were initially successful in taking over many cities in Western Libya and encircled Tripoli.

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Libya at a critical juncture
The China issue and upcoming US presidential elections

The China issue and upcoming US presidential elections

One of the most important outcomes of the COVID-19 crisis will be its impact on U.S.-China relations, according to many scholars and experts. The already-strained relations between the two countries may be up for an even more challenging period in the second half of this year.

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Putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s western front in Libya collapsed last week as the Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) captured the strategically important al-Watiya air base to the southwest of Tripoli. The liberation of Tarhunah, a town some 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the capital’s southeast, will completely break the siege of Tripoli.

Turkey has been following a two-track foreign policy for the last two decades. On the one hand, Turkey has been following an Ankara-centered and relatively independent foreign policy. After the collapse of the bipolar world, Turkey, similar to many other countries, has been trying to increase autonomy in its foreign policy.

We have moved to the second stage in the fight against COVID-19. This stage, which Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has dubbed "controlled social life," is not a return to normal. "The rules of the new normal" are being created in consideration of the possibility of a second wave of infections.

In the last couple of weeks, significant developments have been happening in the Libyan civil war. The Government of National Accord (GNA) and militia forces loyal to the GNA made remarkable military progress in their offensive in the western part of the nation's capital, Tripoli. Armed drones provided by Turkey conducted effective attacks against Haftar forces. Those drone attacks played critical roles in the GNA's military advances in those areas of the country. The GNA also increased its attacks to take back the Watiya Air Base from Haftar's militia.

COVID-19 and the dawning of the US-China struggle

Since the unfolding of the coronavirus crisis, there has been an increasing number of questions about the future of Sino-U.S. relations.

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COVID-19 and the dawning of the US-China struggle
Discussions on ultra-secularist hatred in Turkey

Discussions on ultra-secularist hatred in Turkey

Turkey’s top imam, Ali Erbaş, faces criticism for stating that “Islam condemns homosexuality” and warning that adultery is haram, or forbidden, in his Friday sermon. It is no secret that homosexuals around the world seek recognition and all Abrahamic religions view homosexuality as “perversion.”

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The coronavirus pandemic has many different aspects that need to be scrutinized. Economic and political consequences and the problems concerning public health and medical services are being discussed and evaluated more frequently since the spread of the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated some global phenomena such as global rivalry, economic protectionism and (ultra-)nationalism. The liberal world order that was established by the United States and liberal Western European countries is increasingly under heavy pressure since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on world politics remains a subject of heated debate. Everyone seems to agree that its impact will be significant, but few expect a turn for the better. Instead, most experts believe that the pandemic will expedite history to deepen existing competitions and conflicts.

The coronavirus pandemic has had many social, economic, political and strategic implications. Individuals, societies, states and international organizations will be dramatically influenced by the pandemic. Today, I want to briefly discuss the possible impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the future of international institutions.

That mankind will draw lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic is just wishful thinking. The virus outbreak cannot seem to end violence or the struggle for power. The situation in Libya supports this claim.

The analysis provides an overview of the two central security challenges Greece faces today, namely the energy rivalry with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean/Libya, and the mass influx of refugees at the Greek-Turkish border, and discusses the prospects for a renewed Greek-Turkish détente.

The coronavirus has established its hegemony over daily life. No decision can be made, and no story reported, without mentioning COVID-19. Experts urge people around the world to prepare for the possibility of a protracted lockdown, warning that the pandemic’s second and third waves are still looming. Looking at a photograph, one cannot help but immediately check whether everyone complies with the rule of social distancing.

The presidential government system that was adopted by Turkey in June 2018 under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is providing significant advantages nowadays to the Ministry of Health’s fight against the coronavirus. It has been clearly seen by now how fast the system functions and allows for quick decision-making, and how effective a competent professional recruited from within the health sector can be during a critical period.

Neo-isolationism is among the expectations for U.S. rhetoric in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and this can melt its frozen ties with Turkey

Conventional wisdom dictates that the coronavirus will radically alter our lives. Experts predict that radical changes will occur in a range of areas, including the questioning of alliances, the strengthening of the state and expedited digitalization.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic started as a global health crisis, but it immediately spread to and started to influence the other domains of life all over the world. The crisis directly affected economies across the globe. Some analysts argue that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy may be deeper and more widespread than the impact of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Like all global economic crises, the COVID-19 crisis will also have a significant impact on the global power configuration. A new international system may emerge, or the existing system may be revised entirely because of the direct and indirect consequences of the recent crisis.

The novel coronavirus outbreak that began in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan has turned into a global threat. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined the threat as a pandemic and called on every nation to take necessary precautions. Though the pandemic has lost the momentum it had during initially in China, it keeps spreading across the globe. New cases and deaths are reported every day, especially in the U.S. and Europe. The situation spiraled out of control in Italy and Iran, while in Turkey, the first cases began to emerge. Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced at a news conference on the night of March 17 that the number of cases was 98 and that one person had died.

The COVID-19 pandemic is, first and foremost, a health risk. But we also rate various countries’ response to the crisis – like a stock market. In doing so, the main criterion is who was adequately prepared and whose response proved sufficient.