REGIONS

Shehab Al-Makahleh Turkey has sought to exploit the Qatar dispute with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to grab a historic opportunity in the region. The dreams of a strong, regional Turkey necessitates great financial capabilities that cannot be achieved in light of the decline of the …

Peter Korzun The Afghan province of Badakhshan borders China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It used to be part of an artery between the East and West known as the ancient Silk Road. Today, that road is being revived as an element of China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative, which has …

Shehab Al-Makahleh It is palpable that a nation’s foreign policy mirrors its political leaders’ perspectives and views. These are a product of internal and external factors that influence political orientations in relations with other countries and international organizations. Jordan, like other Mideast countries, has always been inclined to …

By Shehab Makahleh, Alex Vatanka The Kingdom of Jordan, a long-time U.S. ally in the Middle East, is looking to reorient its regional policies. This shift is not only significant for Washington to monitor but has already alarmed Saudi Arabia, the historic cornerstone of Jordanian foreign policy. With Jordan engaged …

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 …