Middle East

Andrew Korybko   A superficial reading of “Operation Olive Branch” indicates that it’s a Turkish-Kurdish war, but the details of who’s fighting make it look a lot more like a Daesh civil war in its opening stages, and that’s exactly what both Ankara and the YPG originally intended. …

Shehab Al-Makahleh It is apparent that Washington has various stances on Syria during the coming period. The first is that its foreign policy is still vague, it has targeted the Syrian army many times. The second trend is the role-play that Russia and Iran master when it comes …

Parallel with the Turkish offensive on Kurdish-held northern Syrian region of Afrin – codenamed ‘Operation Olive Branch’ – Syrian military and militia forces are on a major offensive against Jabhat Al-Nusra (Al-Qaeda affiliate) terrorists in eastern Idlib province. On Sunday, Russian and regional media have reported that Syrian forces …

The operations group have been redeployed from the area of Afrin to the area of Tel Ajar in the Tel Rifaat de-confliction zone   MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. An operations group of the Russian center for reconciliation of warring sides and military police has been re-deployed from Syria’s …

Tony Cartalucci The Syrian government with support from its Russian, Iranian, and Lebanese allies has embarked on a major military operation to retake parts of Syria’s northern governorate of Idlib. As it does so, the US and its regional allies are rushing to position themselves to ensure the …

By Shehab al-Makahleh and Giorgio Cafiero The Red Sea has historically connected traders from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Today the strategically valuable body of water is vital to Sino-European trade. In recent years, several countries have established military footholds along the saltwater inlet’s African shore. …

By Shehab Al-Makahleh and Giorgio Cafiero Jordan has been left with no choice but to oppose US President Donald J. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel because the issue impacts the kingdom’s security and politics. As Jordanian King Abdullah II focuses more attention on Jerusalem and the …

Shehab Al-Makahleh  The importance of the Middle East region for the US stems from the fact that it is part of a wider geography which includes Europe and Asia, whose security has been one of the main American concerns since the 1900s. The Middle East has been considered …