Shehab Al-Makahleh Will the US move its major airbase in Qatar (al-Udeid) to another in Jordan’s Azraq city and will China replace the US airbase in Doha? A report in the US military’s daily Stars and Stripes claims that the Pentagon wants to pump in $143 million into …
Read More »The End of ISIS is in Sight. What is Next?
Given that the last strongholds for ISIS (known as Daesh in the region) in Raqaa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq have fallen, it is likely the group in its current territory-based form will gone by the end of 2017. Only weeks ago, Daesh was allowed to leave central Syria before …
Read More »US options in Syria – split between Kurdish and Turkish allies, and reality
According to reports by Kurdish media a source from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has revealed that thousands of military personnel of the US-led Global Coalition are present in Syrian Kurdistan and other northern regions of the country. “Nearly 4,000 troops and military advisors of the anti-Islamic State Global …
Read More »Sochi Summit: Is the Syrian crisis nearing resolution?
Shehab Al-Makahleh What has been the outcome of the summit between the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran in the Russian city of Sochi? What is the significance of the timing of President Putin’s meeting with Bashar Al-Assad in Sochi on November 21? Has the path towards a …
Read More »The End of ‘Assad Must Go’, Putin Welcomes Syrian President in Sochi
Putin/Assad Meeting Cements the End of U.S. Dominance in the Middle East Tom Luongo I’m not a terribly religious man. But, I’d like to believe there is a special corner in Hell reserved for those that fomented the Syrian Civil War. From its beginnings in Libya with gun-funneling through …
Read More »Isn’t it time for Turkey to withdraw from the military wing of NATO?
Irked by increasing diplomatic clashes with the West, Ankara is warming to a new alliance with Moscow. How ready is the West for the geostrategic and geoeconomic costs of losing Turkey? Metin Gurcan The United States and Europe are on the verge of losing the Turkish public to Russia. Since November …
Read More »Russia’s Arms Sales to Middle East Countries Spike to Record-High Levels
Andrei Akulov Dubai Airshow 2017, one of the largest and most successful air shows in the world, ended on Nov.16, having drawn over 79,000 trade visitors, up around 20% over the last version of the event in 2015. The total order tally is $113.8 billion in orders. It …
Read More »Syria: Between the American anvil and the Russian hammer
Shehab Al-Makahleh It looks like that the international community has taken the final decision to put to an end the seven-year war in Syria with intensive conferences in the pipeline in November and December to reach a political settlement that secure the return of refugees to their homeland. …
Read More »Expect further chill in US-Turkish relations
Commentary | Editor Experts say that US-Turkish relations are at their lowest since the 1974, when Congress imposed an arms embargo after Turkey invaded Cyprus, according to a recent CNBC article. Since botched coup last July relations between the US and Turkey have been in a downward spiral. …
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