Africa

Conspiranoids descend on #BringBackOurGirls

As a team of US military advisors head for Nigeria, the Internet conspirosphere bristles with baseless theories about how Boko Haram is a CIA creation. Will you please shut up?

Europe

Cold War time warp in Ukraine coverage

While claiming to withdraw troops from Ukriane's borders, Russia conducted military maneuvers that included nuclear missile tests—as NATO sends a special delegation to Kiev.

Oceania

Rival trade pacts vie for Pacific hegemony

China is proposing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in  a race with the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.

Europe

Novorossiya resurgent?

With the open encouragement of Putin, separatists in eastern Ukraine are reviving the concept of "Novorossiya" (New Russia)—a dangerous precedent for revanchist claims.

Iraq

Syria: test ground for anti-Shia jihad?

An “Anti-Shia Alliance” convention in Jakarta brought togehter interntional Sunni militants to declare “jihad” on “heretics”—as sectarian attacks mount in Syria and Iraq.