ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Sweden’s controversial plans to deport up to 80,000 asylum-seekers are in line with EU rules and could even strengthen embattled migration policy across the Continent, the European Commission argued yesterday. Commission officials said the returning of failed asylum-seekers fits into the EU’s wider efforts to build a coherent migration strategy that distinguishes between different claims. “Countries are entitled and indeed obliged to return people who are not entitled to stay in the European Union. It is essential to make sure genuine asylum-seekers have their asylum applications processed quickly,” Natasha Bertaud, the commission’s spokeswoman on migration, said. “It is a matter of credibility that we do return these people because we do not want to give the impression that Europe is an open door.” Sweden has been the second most popular destination – after Germany – for the nearly one million migrants who have made their way to Europe in the past year. By population, it has taken in

On Thursday, Commander of Anbar operations Brigadier General Ismail al-Mahalawi announced, that 60 members of the so-called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were killed and 19 booby-trapped vehicles were destructed, while indicated that the Army forces imposed its full control on the situation north of the city. Mahalawi said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “ISIS intensified its attacks on the headquarters of the army’s 10th brigade, brigade 40 and brigade 39 in al-Tharthar area north of Ramadi.” “The army forces backed by the international coalition aviation, Iraqi Army Aviation, army artillery, in addition to the Iraqi Air Force managed to kill 60 members of the so-called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), while destructed 19 booby-trapped vehicles driven by suicide bombers and inflicted heavy human and material losses on them,” Mahalawi added.

By Glenn Greenwald The immediate aftermath of the NATO bombing of Libya was a time of high gloating . Just as Iraq War advocates pointed to the capture and killing of Saddam Hussein as proof that their war was a success, Libya war advocates pointed to the capture and brutal killing of Muammar el-Qaddafi as proof of their vindication. War advocates such as Anne-Marie Slaughter and Nicholas Kristof were writing columns celebrating their prescience and mocking war opponents as discredited, and the New York Times published a front-page article declaring: “U.S. Tactics in Libya May be a Model for Other Efforts.” It was widely expected that Hillary Clinton, one of the leading advocates for and architects of the bombing campaign, would be regarded as a Foreign Policy Visionary for the grand Libya success: “We came, we saw, he died,” Clinton sociopathically boasted about the mob rape and murder of Qaddafi while guffawing on 60 Minutes. Since then, Libya — so predictably — has all but comp

At least 231 people were evacuated from the dam of the hydroelectric power plant near the Russian city of Novosibirsk after reports of explosive devices planted there, a plant official said. An engineer on duty received a message from local emergency services about an explosive device possibly planted on the grounds of the power station, a spokesperson for the Novosibirsk power plant, Olesya Tarasova, told RIA Novosti. She added that bomb disposal experts had arrived at the scene to investigate the incident. However, the specialists haven’t managed to locate any explosive devices in the area around the plant, Tarasova said. She added that the tipoff was a false call from a local woman who is currently being treated in a psychiatric facility and had claimed she had “a vision” of the bomb.

Pyongyang may be preparing for no less than a space launch, US officials told the media, citing recently obtained satellite imagery of a site around the Sohae Satellite Launching Station – and it may come sooner than later. Recent movement of components and propellant could indicate that North Korea is considering a rocket launch in the near future, unnamed US officials told Reuters. “Our concern though is that they do a space-launch, but really it’s the same technology to develop ICBMs,” one of the officials said, adding that the launch could happen in a couple of weeks. Another official told AFP news agency that there were no signs of a ballistic missile. “The indications are that they are preparing for some kind of launch… Could be for a satellite or a space vehicle – there are a lot of guesses,” the official said. “North Korea does this periodically – they move things back and forth... There’s nothing to indicate it is ballistic-missile related.” Concerns that North Korea may be pr

The dark net has continued to make headlines over the last decade as a mysterious part of the internet where criminals lurk and engage in illegal activities, all from the privacy of home computers. Stories of the infamous Silk Road drug market, where users can order illicit drugs online, may come to mind . Or perhaps you have heard about the anonymous digital currency, Bitcoin . But for all that is written about the dark net, most people would be hard-pressed to explain it. Here is a simple, user-friendly explainer of what it is, how it is used, and the questions it raises as we drift deeper into the digital age. What is the dark net? The dark net generally means using the internet in a manner that is difficult for authorities or non-state actors to monitor. This is usually achieved through encryption or by layering networks. It might sound complicated, but for the majority of dark net users this is done simply with software that is downloaded for free and opened, just like ordinary, e

By Matt Novak The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced today that the Doomsday Clock, which represents our proximity to an apocalyptic event, will remain at three minutes to midnight. But that’s still terrifying. “That decision is not good news but an expression of dismay that world leaders continue to fail to focus their efforts and the world’s attention on reducing the extreme danger posed by nuclear weapons and climate change,” the group said in a statement. In a world that hasn’t seen nuclear warfare in over 70 years, the so-called Doomsday Clock sounds like a joke. But when you look at the number of near-misses we’ve had throughout our nuclear history, one thing becomes abundantly clear: The Doomsday Clock is no fucking joke. Yes, the Doomsday Clock is admittedly a gimmick that’s been used by the anti-nuclear proliferation group and its journal, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, since 1947. But unlike other media-bait events, like “National Popcorn Day” or “Vale

By F. William Engdahl If there is any single price of any commodity that determines the growth or slowdown of our economy, it is the price of crude oil. Too many things don’t calculate today in regard to the dramatic fall in the world oil price. In June 2014 major oil traded at $103 a barrel. With some experience following the geopolitics of oil and oil markets, I smell a big skunk. Let me share some things that for me don’t add up. On January 15 the US benchmark oil price, WTI (West Texas Intermediate), closed trading at $29, the lowest since 2004. True, there’s a glut of at least some 1 million barrels a day overproduction in the world and that’s been the case for over a year. True, the lifting of Iran sanctions will bring new oil on to a glutted market, adding to the downward price pressure of the present market. However, days before US and EU sanctions were lifted on Iran on January 17, Seyyid Mohsen Ghamsari, the head of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Company stated