The two presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are meeting to discuss their long-term strategic-economic relationship. Nevertheless, the situation in Syria and the US claimed withdrawal from the occupied northeast of the Levant is expected to occupy the greater part of their discussion. Both presidents are aware of the critical situation, particularly the US…
Kazakhstan sits at the heartland of the Great Game of the 21st century, which is all about Eurasia interconnectivity and integration. Astana is a member of both the China-driven New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative, and the Russia-led Eurasia Economic Union. Kazakhstan, the “snow leopard economy” as branded by President Nursultan Nazarbayev over…
The Netanyahu government has embarked on a policy of aggression in Syria that threatens rather than protects the security of Israel and the wider region. In analyzing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians close to home and repeated acts of military aggression in Syria, the words of ancient Greek general and historian Thucydides ring true: “The…
Israeli forces have shifted from a doctrine of “war by stealth” to openly declared aggression on its northern neighbor Syria. For two straight days, the Israelis bombarded Syria’s capital Damascus and its environs with dozens of air-launched cruise missiles. Many of the projectiles were reportedly intercepted by Russian-supplied air defense systems. Nevertheless the Israeli blitzkrieg…
The Republican Senator from South Carolina uttered his remarks following a series of curiously timed developments in Syria, including a terror attack in the northern city of Manbij that reportedly left four Americans dead, and ongoing Israeli attacks on Syrian territory. Graham, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw some 2,000 US troops from Syria,…
The demand of President Donald Trump that congress should appropriate money to build a wall securing the nation’s southern border has resulted in the longest federal government shutdown in history with no end in sight. There is considerable opposition to the wall based on two quite different perceptions of border security. The generally “progressive” view…
