Middle East

Russia-US-Ukraine-trilateral-talks-Abu-Dhabi

Five Insights Into The Trilateral Russian-Ukrainian-US Talks

Russia’s agreement to this format represents a significant policy shift. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the second round of the trilateral Russian-Ukrainian-US talks in Abu Dhabi will be held on 1 February. There haven’t been many leaks from the first round so observers can only speculate about the subject and significance […]

Iran-Trump-Israel-potential-strikes

Iran’s “Balkanization” Is Unlikely But Still Can’t Be Ruled Out

Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, all of which have been Iran’s “frenemies” since 1979 and whose military-strategic interests are increasingly converging, are expected to exploit any large-scale instability that could follow another potential round of US strikes if Trump changes his mind. The Wall Street Journal recently published a […]

Syria-Kurds-defeat

The Defeat Of The Kurds In Syria

After months of skirmishes and mutual accusations, the militants, formally structured into the Syrian armed forces and the Kurdish militia in the northeast of the country (Rojava region by the Kurdish definition), known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, turned to intense fighting that happened last weekend. Pretty quickly, the Kurds […]

Syria-sanctions-relief-US-EU

Syria’s New Elite Amid The Lifting Of Sanctions (II)

Part I Regional backers (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey) moved quickly to lobby for sanctions relief, portraying the new Syrian authorities as pragmatic partners. Washington, however, adopted a more transactional approach. Rather than offering relief as a reward for regime change, the United States sought to make Damascus “earn” normalization. […]

Trump-Gaza-Board-of-Peace

Gaza Vanishing: Trump’s Board Of Peace

Donald Trump’s Board of Peace overseeing the reconstruction of Gaza was always going to raise a host of niggling questions.  From the outset, the US President made it clear he would be the helmsman of what was essentially an outfit of selected corporate overseers tilling the soil for The Donald’s […]

US-Israel-Gaza-peace-plan

A Cruel Truce: Israel’s Ongoing Demolition Of Gaza

What matters peace if it permits killing, maiming and destroying the infrastructure of a society supposedly once at war?  This is the situation facing Gaza as the occupying Israeli forces go about their business making the Strip even more uninhabitable for the Palestinian residents, ensuring that that land will be […]

US-international-law

Quod Licet Lovi, Non Licet Bovi – A Case Of The USA

International law likes to speak about principles, but it prefers silence when those principles are violated by the very power that claims authorship over them. The recent episode involving Venezuela has become yet another illustration of this long-standing reality: in a world governed by the “rule of the strong,” norms […]

Syria-new-government-sanctions

Syria’s New Elite Amid The Lifting Of Sanctions (I)

One year after the fall of Syria’s old regime, the country remains shrouded in what military theorists once called the “fog of war” – a condition of uncertainty, incomplete information, and contradictory interpretations. External observers, diplomats, journalists, and analysts offer sharply divergent assessments of what has emerged in Damascus since […]