ISIL offensive is throwing Iraq into chaos: the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, having started a heavy guerrilla against Iraqi government in early June, turned Iraq into a black hole from which nothing can escape. 

It seems like the balance of forces in Syria has hardly changed since the beginning of the civil war in 2011: apparently, neither the loyalists nor the rebel forces have the capability of overpowering one another.

Now, abandoning any kind of rhetoric, it is clear that, in terms of international security, a stuck conflict is far preferable rather than having one of the two parties victorious. Although it may appear to be an out-of-place statement, imagining the possible alternative scenario would be enough to see how truthful it is.

On Saturday 17, French President François Hollande hosted a high level summit in Paris, welcoming his political counterpart from Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad[1] in order to address the Boko Haram issue, the Islamic fundamentalist group that has attracted world attention on itself kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls in north-eastern Nigeria last month. 

Ukraine has fallen into chaos. This seems to be the harsh reality after last two-day events. The umpteenth separatist action took place on Tuesday and it consisted in the occupation of prosecutor's office in Donetsk. Kiev made her move on Friday and launched a large-scale operation aiming to reconquer Slavyansk, a town belonging to Donetsk Oblast that has been under separatists control since early April and where OSCE observers were thought to be kept as hostages[1]. While the army was surrounding the city and trying to reach its centre (operation that has been impeded by civilians, which are openly supporting separatist forces), new clashes between pro-Russia and pro-Kiev supporters burst in Odessa: 42 people were killed and other 125 were injured[2].