After a period of relative quietness, the upraising in Ukraine has registered a new wave of violence with at least five people killed and hundreds injured over the last couple of weeks. The new clashes were triggered by the government’s decision on January 17th to put new restrictions on protests till March 8th. Since then, the confrontation between governmental forces and the oppositions has become more intense...
17/01/2014
Russia: Unconfirmed reports about the death of Doku Umarov several weeks ahead of Winter Olympic Games in Sochi
A video, posted on Youtube and on numerous jihadist websites on Thursday, triggered a wave of rumors about alleged death of the leader of Imarat Kavkaz, Doku Umarov aka Emir Abu Usman.
15/01/2014
Egypt: Toward a New Constitution?
In a climate of tensions, Egypt opened polling stations on Tuesday to vote on a key referendum on a new constitution. The interior ministry deployed more than 200.000 policemen, 150 security units and 200 combat groups to secure the station from violence....
07/01/2014
Libya and the security of energy infrastructures
2013 was not a remarkable year for Libya’s energy sector. Indeed, it was quite the opposite. Libya’s energy infrastructures have been targeted since the beginning of last year by a heterogeneous group of actors including: rebels, ethnic minorities, employees and guards—each bringing different demands to the already unstable government lead by Ali Zeidan...
16/12/2013
ESISC Presidential Election Mission in Azerbaijan
ESISC has conducted an independent observation mission in Azerbaijan for October 9 Presidential elections.
11/12/2013
South Africa after Mandela
More than 91 world leaders gathered in Johannesburg for the farewell to former South African President Nelson Mandela, in a celebration easily comparable to those of Pope John Paul II and JFK. With South Africa now gathering world’s media attention for the loss of one of its most prominent political figure of the XX century, a question may arise: how will South Africa be looking like in the post-Mandela era? [...]
04/12/2013
Ukraine: caught between a rock and a hard place
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been taking the streets since November 21st, when President Viktor Yanukovych took the decision of not signing an association agreement with the European Union (EU) that would have enhanced cooperation between Kiev and Brussels. In an atmosphere of growing tension, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov stated that the situation is serious and the protests have «all the signs of a coup»...
27/11/2013
Iran: The reactions to the interim nuclear agreement
On Sunday, November 24, 2013, the 5+1 negotiator group (the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany) reached an interim nuclear agreement with Iran. [...]
20/11/2013
Libya: “Cyrenaican Political Bureau” announces regional oil company
On Sunday, November 10, 2013, the Prime Minister of the self-declared Cyrenaican autonomous government, Abd-Rabbo al-Barassi, announced the creation of the Libyan Oil and Gas Corporation.
15/11/2013
Syria: Free Syrian Army set conditions to participate in Geneva II peace talks
On Monday, November 11th, 2013, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) set its conditions to participate to the Geneva II Middle East Peace Conference (hereinafter Geneva II), which is expected to take place by the end of the year. With all parties now declaring their willingness to take part to the Conference, several issues have still to be solved by sherpas before its beginning. [...]
07/11/2013
The Morsi Trial: a Geopolitical Perspective
On Monday, November 4, 2013, Egypt’s former president Mohamed Morsi rejected the authority of the court due to try him and 14 other officials for their alleged involvement in the death of protesters demonstrating outside Cairo’s presidential palace last December.[...]
23/10/2013
Washington and Islamabad to restart the strategic dialogue
On Wednesday, October 23, 2013, the US President Barack Obama will meet with the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to review bilateral relations between their two countries. Several issues are expected to be addressed during the important meeting, which should mark a new beginning after years of strained relations. [...]
10/10/2013
Press Statement – ESISC Presidential Election Observation Mission in Azerbaijan
As announced earlier, ESISC conducted an independent observation mission in Azerbaijan for October 9 Presidential elections. [...]
03/09/2013
China: Xinjiang’s violence, sub-state separatism or global terrorism?
In the last few years, and particularly since the July 2009 deadly riots in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, the case of Uyghurs’ separatism and their Islamic radicalisation has gained considerable attention among political observers worldwide. [...]
06/08/2013
What is the real threat posed by "Jihadist hackers"?
Latest reports on cyber incidents highlight the increasing prevalence of what we can call “Jihadist hacking”, meaning that states will need to “rearm” themselves and make determinant choices in the face of this slowly but surely growing cyber threat.
01/07/2013
Belgium/Syria: New reports confirm increasing involvement of Belgian jihadists in Syria
On June 27, the judge for the Spanish National Court, issued an arrest warrant against Ismail Abdelatif Al Lal, 38, in connection to the investigation of Jihadist recruiting network operating in Ceuta and Morocco dismantled last June 21.
23/05/2013
United Kingdom: Knife attack against a soldier in South London highlights the threat of home-grown terrorism
On Wednesday afternoon in John Wilson Street, in Woolwich, South London, a British soldier, whose identity has not been disclosed yet and aged around 20, was hacked to death by two black men shouting Islamist slogans. (...)
23/04/2013
The Tsarnaev brothers seen through the social media and the Islamists websites: welcome in a paranoid (and anti-Western) world
Since the identification of the Tsarnaev Brothers as the main (and probably the only) responsibles for the attacks in Boston, thousands of messages of support flourished on the social networks as Facebook, YouTube or Twitter.
19/04/2013
Boston attacks [update] state of the play at 01:30 pm GMT and first profiles of the two suspects
It is confirmed that the incidents in MTI and Watertown, last night and early this morning were all linked to Monday’s terrorist attacks.
19/04/2013
Boston attacks and MIT incident updates
Here is the last “state of the play” of the Boston attack investigation and the MIT Incident.
