The Iranian Ballistic Missile Launches That Didn’t Happen

by Greg Thielmann Iran’s binge of short- and medium-range ballistic missile launches on March 8 and 9 garnered considerable attention in the press and in American political circles. These provocative launches, which coincided with a visit to Israel by Vice… Continue Reading

Erdogan: The Savior-Turned-Destroyer of Turkish Democracy

by Derek Davison Turkey’s political landscape wasn’t supposed to look like this. When Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) won almost two-thirds of the seats in Turkey’s Grand National Assembly in 2002, it looked like a positive sign… Continue Reading

Trump’s Attacks on Islam: Dangerous and Way Off the Mark

by Emile Nakhleh Donald J. Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, told CNN recently that “Islam hates us.” Although he maintains that the United States is engaged in a war against radical Islam, he claims, “It’s very hard to separate… Continue Reading

The Obama Doctrine?

by Robert E. Hunter As the Obama administration starts to wind down, it has become open season on the president and his record, especially in foreign policy. The literary potshots have even come from people who had been honored with… Continue Reading

War Intensifies Between Turkey and the Kurds

by Robert Olson The leadership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) promised that its response to the devastating war waged since July against it—and its political arm, the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK)—would be attacks in western Turkey, including Ankara… Continue Reading