It seems that Afghan and NATO authorities are once more seeking a dialogue with the Taliban- even after last year’s debacle of being fooled by a ‘very clever’ Pakistani shopkeeper pretending to be a Taliban official.

The arrest of prominent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has revealed an extensive crackdown against internal dissidents by the authorities in Beijing.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has deployed all of the usual tools to cope with the protest movement that has blossomed within Syria’s borders.

The international effort to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons faces numerous challenges, the most notable of which is globalisation itself.

This report examines the roles played by Western International Financial Institutions (IFIs), intelligence agencies, militaries and strategic interests in the break up of the Yugoslav Republic.