Geopolitics

Syria’s Kurds appear to be in the process of making a mistake of monumental proportions. Central government offices in the north-eastern provincial capital of al-Hasaka are reported to have been evacuated after being overrun by Kurdish forces – specifically, units of the Asayish militia affiliated to the People’s …

At the White House, the Pentagon, and CIA headquarters, the August 9 meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been viewed as a limited success, at best, and no cause for serious worry. This may prove to be the latest in a …

In Erdogan’s early days, he was an open Islamist radical, working for an Islamist party that got itself overthrown and banned for being too straightforward. Later, he reconstituted the Islamist party as the AKP, with its Islamism toned down just enough to fly under the radar screen of …

  “We should facilitate people engaging with each other. We should not dictate to them what they should do. We should facilitate the people of Syria deciding about their own future, rather than setting the parameters on what they need to do. We should also agree that Iran …

Gareth Porter A former Obama administration official has asserted that the Iranian nuclear deal marks a radical break with past U.S. policy, contradicting the official White House stance that the agreement is not leading to a new U.S.-Iran relationship. John Limbert, a Farsi-speaking veteran diplomat who was among …

Since the beginning of the Saudi-led coalition’s onslaught on Yemen, more than 6,000 people, half of which were civilians, have been killed. In the continued bombing of Yemen, 119 air strikes have been conducted that have hit hospitals, schools and camps for the internally displaced persons and refugees. …

Andreas Ulmand With its saber-rattling over the last months, the Kremlin has succeeded in taking large parts of the Western elite under its “reflexive control.” That term refers to a Soviet strategy of action designed to trigger desired reactions on the enemy’s side. Moscow has done its utmost …

Lorenzo Kamel The Thirty Years’ War started in 1618 as a conflict between various Protestant and Catholic states in the Holy Roman Empire. It brought devastation and major population loss to the heart of Europe. Many observers of today’s Middle East have found similarities with that distant past. …

As the US presidential election fast approaches in November, the greatest political spectacle of the year is in full swing. Say what you want about the US, but there is no other country that knows how to put a show on in the same way as our American …