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

Turkey’s Post-Mosul Calculations in Iraq

by Robert Olson Turkey does not have one foreign policy toward Iraq but several. Its primary concern is not toward the Shi’a-dominated government in Baghdad but rather toward the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Irbil, and, in particular, toward the… Continue Reading

Turkey’s Intentions in Iraq and the Battle for Mosul

by Robert Olson Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has warned Turkey that if it keeps its forces in Iraq, it will risk “regional war,” especially if continues to train Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Peshmerga forces. Spokespersons for the KRG came… Continue Reading

Turkey’s State of Emergency and the March to One-Man Rule

by Robert Olson Turkey declared a “State of Emergency” (OHAL) on July 20, five days after the failed coup. It is to last for three months but can be extended at four-month intervals indefinitely if parliament agrees., Since it became… Continue Reading

Why Victory Over IS Won’t Solve the Real Problem Facing Iraq and Syria

by Derek Davison A recent spate of high-casualty Islamic State-linked attacks in France, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and (arguably) Orlando, Florida, has raised fears about the group’s ability to carry out international terrorist strikes while also obscuring its failures at… Continue Reading