The US-Brokered Taliban-Indian Prisoner Swap Is a Pretty Big Deal

The US-Brokered Taliban-Indian Prisoner Swap Is a Pretty Big Deal

The US-brokered Taliban-Indian prisoner swap might lead to the resumption of the Afghan peace process but the deal also carries with it somewhat uncomfortable optics for Pakistan since it was likely agreed to during US peace envoy Khalilzad’s “ice-breaking” meeting with the Taliban in Islamabad last week. *** Last week’s informal meeting between the Taliban…

Between Washington’s Rock & Ankara’s Hard Place, Kurds had Better Choose Damascus

Between Washington’s Rock & Ankara’s Hard Place, Kurds had Better Choose Damascus

Being half an Irishman myself I feel entitled to refer to the probably apocryphal answer given by an Irishman asked by a lost, weary, traveler for directions to Dublin. “Oh, well now, I wouldn’t have started from here.” Turkey went from a foreign policy of “no quarrels with the neighbours” to near war with Iraq…

Turkey’s Syria Move Aims to Solve Several Problems But Could Create New Ones

Turkey’s Syria Move Aims to Solve Several Problems But Could Create New Ones

President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US military personnel from Syria’s border with Turkey effectively opens a new chapter in the conflict, leaving Turkey on its own in the so-called “peace corridor” plan in northern Syria.  The fragmented structure of US foreign policy-making at large, the flip-flopping policies and the failure to appreciate Turkey’s strategic priorities resulted in Trump’s abrupt go-ahead to…

Washington Prefers Confrontation With Russia to Dialogue and Cooperation

Washington Prefers Confrontation With Russia to Dialogue and Cooperation

On September 24, while the Ukraine corruption scandal was gathering momentum in Washington, the US Air Force’s 31 Fighter Wing deployed F-16 strike aircraft to Graf Ignatievo Air Base in Bulgaria as part of Exercise Rapid Buzzard which has the aim of improving the “joint warfighting capability” of the US and Bulgarian air forces. It…