China, 20 years after

In a nutshell, the challenges about China are the same as they were two decades ago. The US got it wrong then can it get it right now? Plus, today, Beijing has its domestic issues to solve with or without America. It’s one of the rarest events in history – its repetition a generation later. […]

Pizzaballa’s Way to Peace

The Cardinal offered himself in return for the Israeli hostages right after Hamas’ massacre. The offer could now help to break a deadlock in the region. It’s resurfacing on the web (see here), the October 2023interview (see here) where the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, offered himself in exchange for the release of Israeli […]

Europe-China, Matters of Sense and Sensibility

This year, 2024, may mark a significant shift in the relationship between the European Union (EU) and China. The February 2022 shock of China’s support for Russia against Ukraine was compounded by the potentially even greater shock of China’s stance on Israel and its support for Iran in the Middle East. This has created a […]

A Way for the Pope with Israel?

The Pope’s decision to declare October 7th a day of fasting is a farsighted warning on a historical level. The fast shows the world public opinion of three important facts: The terrorist violence of Hamas and Hezbollah as well as the recent missile attacks by Iran against Israel have distanced the prospect of a Palestinian […]

The Transformation of Intelligence. The Pager Case by Marco Mayer

The recent attacks against Hezbollah reveal a significant evolution in the operational methods of intelligence agencies in response to hybrid threats that challenge the traditional boundaries between public and private, national and international. For this reason, a radical reform of the organization of other intelligence services is also needed towards a more integrated and multidisciplinary […]

Intelligence and Culture Missing for China

Two elements stand out in the present situation in the Middle East: the intelligence failure in not seeing the attack coming and the ongoing attempt to hijack the political agenda in many Arab countries. The intelligence failure is the second in less than two years by most Western countries, particularly the European countries. In early […]

A new political strategy for Israel?

The ongoing war against Hamas needs a strategy and a political horizon before a military one. What is Israel’s future: a state integrated within itself, in the region, or under siege? There has clearly been an Israeli intelligence failure with the Hamas attack, but more profoundly, there has been a strategy failure.[1] The idea that Hamas […]