Al Jazeera Center for Studies will host a special lecture by the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, on the Current Complexities and the Future Challenges, at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, on Tuesday 5th March 2013. The event will bring together a group of academics, politicians, diplomats, members of the Somali community, as well as experts and specialists in Somali affairs to assess the current situation and ask what lies ahead.    (more)

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, needs to institute a new constitution before next autumn as the current system does not allow him to stay in power with sufficient authority or to address the Turkish nation’s framework for resolving the Kurdish issue. His opportunity lies in the link between constitutional amendment and solving the Kurdish issue.    (more)

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) came into power in 2009 with promises of bringing long-term change to the Japanese political system: giving the cabinet policy making power, changing the U.S.-Japan security relationship and moving away from massive infrastructure and public works spending.    (more)

The decision of Bulgarian authorities to speak up about the available evidence concerning the Burgas attack has failed to stir up a diplomatic storm. Nonetheless, the issue will not simply go away; it is firmly on the EU agenda and has implications on Europe’s relations with both Israel and the US.    (more)

An instrumental step towards toppling the dictator in Syria was the formation of the “Syrian National Coalition” after two years of armed uprising against Assad’s regime. However, forming a representative interim government and building consensus on the transitional period priorities and time line, are equally important steps still needed to avoid the transitional hardships.    (more)

French military intervention in Mali has achieved some success including the recapture of important towns and the salvation of the weak transitional government in Bamako. Whether the war will end soon or persist is unclear but military intervention is sure to effect security in and outside Africa.    (more)

To ECOWAS, the AU and the UN, the crisis in Mali indicates the need for shift of mission and focus from purely hard security to building a legitimate democratic state that can deliver. Securitising and democratising Mali requires more resilient democratic states in the Sahel region.    (more)