U.S. Troop Withdrawals Threaten Greater Gulf Assertiveness

by James M. Dorsey As far as Gulf leaders are concerned, President Donald J. Trump demonstrated with his announced US troop withdrawals from Syria and Afghanistan [reports of the latter have been disputed by the Trump administration] that his insistence that the… Continue Reading

Trump’s Syria Decision and Its Implications for Iran

by Kaveh L. Afrasiabi President Donald Trump has roiled both the Middle East and the American foreign policy establishment with the startling announcement that he is withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria. That decision, prompting the resignation of Secretary of Defense… Continue Reading

On Boys, Frogs, and The Weekly Standard

by Jim Lobe During the Christmas Bombing of Vietnam in December 1972, I somehow came across a saying attributed to Bion of Borysthenes, a third-century BC Greek philosopher. I taped a copy of the quote to my teleprinter in the… Continue Reading