Turkey’s Safe Zone in Northern Syria and International Law

By Ahmed E Souaiaia* Abstract: Mere hours before Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, visits with his Russian counterpart in Sochi, his government clarified the purpose of its invasion of Northern Syrian. The Turkish government frames its intervention as partly humanitarian, partly security missions. Considering that Erdoğan has called for such a “safe zone” as early Read more

Continue Reading

The U.S. is planning “an attack on Iran”, a real Groundhog Day event

More than 22 years ago, an attack in Saudi Arabia was blamed on Iran, and the media, then, said the US is preparing to attack Iran. Now, another attack in Saudi Arabia is blamed on Iran and the US is said to be preparing to Attack Iran. And guest what, at that time too, Afghanistan Read more

Continue Reading

US is already fighting a conflict with Iran – an economic war that is hurting the wrong people

by David Cortright* Many are worried about the risk of war with Iran after the Trump administration leaked discussions of a troop deployment in response to claimed threats to U.S. warships in the region. And in recent days, the rhetoric has only gotten more heated, with President Donald Trump saying a war would be “the Read more

Continue Reading

Trump’s reflexive impulse to reach for superlatives will doom his Iran sanctions regime

Trump’s inclination to invoke superlatives to demean persons he does not like and to praise himself or persons he likes is well documented. Almost all his short and long statements would include some superlatives. His tweet announcing the start of the Iran sanctions is no exception. The Iran sanctions have officially been cast. These are Read more

Continue Reading

Turkey is now alone, thanks to its erratic alliances

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* This map, produced by pro-gov. Syrian group, hints to Syria’s claim over most of Hatay province, could explain the strategy for dealing with Idlib. There are historical and political reasons for Turkey’s determination to prevent the formation of an autonomous Kurdish region in Northern Syria. However, Turkey’s government might be nervous Read more

Continue Reading

Was Astana Meeting on Syria a Success? Consider the reaction on the ground in Syria

Analysis: Was Astana Meeting on Syria a Success?  Leader of the new faction created by Nusra: Abu Jabir al-Sheikh In past, when the U.S. administration and the Russian government attempted to solve the Syrian crisis, their efforts collapsed because they failed to reach an agreement on identifying and separating terrorist groups from non-terrorist groups, or Read more

Continue Reading

UK’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson comments anger the rulers of Saudi Arabia, forcing Downing Street to distance itself from his views

When the British government is forced to choose between factual truth and political imperatives, it chose politics The UK’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stated a fact almost universally known by now. He pointed out that Saudi Arabia is fomenting sectarian war in the region. Saudi officials were angered by the comments and Saudi media accused Read more

Continue Reading