Information Reports

Government of Pakistan: Information Report

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, also known as Afghanistan, is located in South Central Asia. The government of Afghanistan consists of the President, council of ministers, provincial governors and the national assembly. According to the 2004 constitution, “Afghanistan shall be an Islamic Republic, independent, unitary and indivisible state” (Olam). To fulfill this constitution, Afghanistan’s government has three branches comprising of the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches.

ISIS affiliates flourish in regions plagued by weak governance, porous borders, and inept security force (Intel Brief, 2019). Affiliates are geographically dispersed and vary in capability; some are akin to terrorist groups, while others behave like insurgent groups (Intel Brief, 2019).

As China’s economic growth slows, it is taking drastic steps to correct its trajectory. China is just a few steps into what is becoming a massive investment program called the Belt and Road initiative that will include over four trillion dollars in investment over the course of three decades throughout many countries across the Eurasia region. It is, in many ways, an attempt to economically link the region together in order to ensure China’s economic future– the project will create an infrastructure which China and Chinese companies can use to trade and invest across Europe and Asia. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a regional capstone of sorts for the project. It is China’s massive investment into Pakistan. The details of how this investment is carried out could be the determining factor of Pakistan’s economic future and stability, though corruption poses serious concerns in its procession.

The U.S. and Colombia have had a strong relationship for much of Colombia’s 200-year history due to Colombia being one of the oldest democracies in Latin America. Known for having a past full of terrorism from infamous drug cartels, Colombia has reinvented itself and today has a stable democracy. The U.S. has a history of sending aide and assisting Colombia in its efforts to eradicate drug trafficking. From this past relationship of fighting narcotrafficking the U.S. and Colombia have come to share similar ideals such as supporting democratic governance, promoting security, and creating economic opportunities for all people (State, 2018). Sharing these ideals has also led to free trade agreements, becoming members of the same international organizations and U.S. assistance to Colombia that is more than just eradicating narcotrafficking (State, 2018). Recently the U.S. and Colombian relationships have come into the limelight. With meetings between the two countries leaders and representatives in January and February.

In 1934 U.S. forces left the country of Nicaragua after a period of guerrilla warfare waged by opposition leader Augusto CŽsar Sandino. As they left the U.S. put Anastasio Somoza in charge and 44 years of a terrible dictatorship backed by the U.S. began. The Somoza family kept power until the civil war in 1978. The Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), a group named after the legendary Augusto CŽsar Sandino, led a movement to oust the Somoza family. Nicaragua chose to create a democracy and in 1984 a man with socialist ideas and dreams named Daniel Ortega was elected president. Unfortunately, during his presidency inflation soared and the U.S. fueled an opposition group of anti-Sandinistas. Daniel Ortega was defeated in the 1990 election, but his FSLN party would make a comeback and reelect him in the 2006 election.

Background of US-EU Relations Regarding Iran

In 2013, under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS began to study the West’s media so they could understand how best to mimic its methods of persuasion (Koerner, 2017). About a year later, in 2014, ISIS’s use of social media started, when they systematically leveraged technology and operated like a digital marketing team (DiResta, 2018). ISIS quickly built a brand on social media with tens of thousands of followers (How ISIS). Abu Musab al-Zarqawai, an ISIS leader, believed that they were “…in a media battle in a race for the hearts and minds of our Umma [Muslim people]” (Koerner, 2017). The organization’s strategic use of social media demonstrates the resourcefulness of the terrorist organization, which recruited an estimated 40,000 foreign nationals from 110 countries (Ward, 2018).

By Guest Author, Emil Avdaliani, PhD - Professor of International Relations and History at Tbilisi State University