We’ll highlight the following topics: In ISN Insights on Monday, Robert Cutler discusses energy politics on the complex chessboard of the Caspian Sea basin. On Tuesday, we report on last week’s conference, “The Arab World: Where is it heading to?” — jointly organized by NCCR Democracy and the Center for Comparative and International Studies at [...]

9/11 and media What Al-Qaeda achieved on 9/11 was arguably not only the most extreme and effective terrorist attack ever carried out, but also a highly effective media spectacle with unprecedented return on investment. The loss of human life aside, Al-Qaeda was known all over the world within hours, at the cost of eleven airline [...]

With the death of Muammar Gaddafi last Thursday and President Barack Obama’s announcement the following day that all troops would be leaving Iraq by the end of the year, Americans might have been forgiven for waking up this week with withdrawal symptoms.  By the end of the year, America’s ‘three wars’ will be down to [...]

Young men and women have formed the core of the recent uprisings across the Arab world. Yet media outlets have often generalized coverage of the Arab spring and overlooked individual contributions. So the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs’ (FDFA) decision to invite six activists to its Annual Conference was an opportunity to hear the hopes [...]

Last Sunday’s elections unexpectedly bucked the trend of growing polarization in the Swiss political landscape. All major established parties lost support, while two new center parties – the Liberal Greens and the Conservative Democrats – were the big winners. But, to many, the biggest surprise was the weak showing of the Swiss People’s Party, the [...]