Q & A Archive

In mid-January, militants raided Algeria’s In Amenas gas field, sparking a crisis that ended with the deaths of at least 37 hostages. Anne Korin, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, an energy security research organization, explained in an email interview why the oil and gas industry is an attractive target for terrorists. WPR: What makes the oil and gas industry an attractive target for terrorists? Anne Korin: In many parts of the world where oil and gas export income is a critical contributor to regime budgets, attacking oil and gas infrastructure serves to strike a direct […]

Serbia and Kosovo agreed last month to exchange envoys for the first time in response to a broader European Union push for the two to improve relations. In an email interview, Stefan Lehne, a Balkans and European Union expert at Carnegie Europe, explained the overall progress of Kosovo-Serbia relations and the challenges that remain. WPR: What were the factors that drove Serbia and Kosovo to exchange envoys for the first time? Stefan Lehne: Whatever their differences on the status issue, Serbia and Kosovo will always be neighbors. Every day there will be problems to sort out between them and gains […]

Uganda’s parliament announced plans earlier this week to summon the country’s defense minister and military chief to clarify recent statements attributed to them that seemed to threaten a military takeover of the government. In addition to reputed warnings by Defense Minister Crispus Kiyonga and military chief Gen. Aronda Nyakairima that the military was monitoring legislators’ actions and might take control if they did not make sufficient progress, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni reportedly warned members of parliament that the military would not allow “confusion” in parliament to continue. In an email interview, Adam Branch, a senior research fellow at the Makerere […]