Assassination in Ankara: Broader Implications

by Mark N. Katz Some initially expected that the shocking assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey by an off-duty Turkish policeman would have soured Russian-Turkish relations. If anything, though, this episode appears to be drawing Moscow and Ankara even… Continue Reading

Kurdish Rivalries Create New Challenges for Islamic State Fight

by Robert Olson and Derek Davison The U.S.-led anti-Islamic State (ISIS or IS) coalition is being challenged by a new but fairly predictable problem. Tensions between the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), along with its Syrian affiliate, the Democratic Union… Continue Reading

Heartstrings and Aleppo

by Paul R. Pillar Among large-scale tragedies involving human suffering and the many examples of man’s inhumanity toward man, only a few capture our imaginations and sway our collective emotions. The question of which specific episodes achieve this special salience… Continue Reading

The Erosion of West-Saudi Relations

by Eldar Mamedov On December 14, the European Parliament adopted a report on the E.U.’s common foreign and security policy, which expresses the assembly’s views on key issues in the E.U.’s external relations. Among other positions, the E.P. condemned the… Continue Reading

Trump’s Pick for Ambassador to Israel Could Kill the Two-State Solution

by Eli Clifton This article was first published by the The Nation and was reprinted here with permission. Copyright The Nation.  Early in his unconventional candidacy, Donald Trump embraced the possibility that he would kick the failed cycle of repeated US-brokered… Continue Reading