by Helena Cobban August 26 saw the failure of yet another attempt by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to negotiate the terms of a new cessation of hostilities in the now 64-month-long civil… Continue Reading
by Shireen Hunter Since the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003, which exacerbated Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian divisions and the manipulation of these divisions by regional and international actors, centrifugal tendencies in Iraq have become quite strong. For example,… Continue Reading
by Robert E. Hunter The Turkish military incursion into Syria is yet another chapter in the continuing tragedy for that country, for Syrians of all confessions and ethnicities, and indeed for most of the Middle East. Ankara is acting, it… Continue Reading
by Robert Olson On August 24, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield, an attack on the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Jarabulus, a small town located on the Turkish-Syrian. While Turkey has had troops on the Syrian side of the border… Continue Reading
by Paul R. Pillar Well, that didn’t last long, did it? Barely a week after the announcement that Russian warplanes were using a base in Iran to launch airstrikes in Syria, Iran withdrew its permission to use the base. This… Continue Reading