by Paul R. Pillar Amid the chaos that is the making of foreign policy in the Trump White House, one can only guess about any conversations between the president and National Security Advisor John Bolton since the president’s pre-holiday tweeted… Continue Reading
by James M. Dorsey Two developments, the pending return of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to the Arab fold and protests in Sudan, Jordan and Tunisia, send contradictory messages of where the Middle East and North Africa are headed.
by Emile Nakhleh The Middle East, like the rest of the world, is a “very dangerous place!” according to President Trump. The Saudis, with America’s tacit help, made it so. President Trump’s bizarre and strange recent statement giving Saudi Crown… Continue Reading
by Daniel Brumberg U.S. policy toward Syria pivots around vague and potentially incompatible goals that are not linked to adequate means. The White House wants to insure the permanent destruction of the Islamic State (ISIS or IS), expel Iranian and… Continue Reading
by Giorgio Cafiero After Syria’s crisis erupted in 2011, Jordanian-Syrian relations suffered immensely. Early in the conflict, Damascus began accusing Amman of financing and training “terrorist” organizations fighting against the Syrian regime. In May 2014, the Hashemite kingdom expelled Syria’s… Continue Reading