The curious episode earlier this week of President Erdogan rebuffing Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s request to return Afrin to Damascus’ control was nothing more than a brilliant display of perception management by the Moscow diplomat and confirms his reputation as being one of the most skillful practitioners of this art in history. The Seeds Of…
Syrian President Basher al-Assad has killed more than half a million of his own countrymen and driven another 10 million from their homes. In alliance with Iran, he plans to shift Syria’s ethnic and religious balance by driving out Sunni Arabs and replacing them with Shi’ite settlers from Lebanon to Pakistan. For all intents and…
Conflicting interests and a realignment of alliances over Syria have left Turkey with tough choices to make as the US looks to confront another nuclear-armed power south of the Turkish border. Officials are adamant Ankara won’t be forced into taking absolute sides as in the Cold War. There is currently no possibility of Turkey allowing…
To tell the truth, war has broken out. War has been “broken out”. That war, which is most important now, is the confrontation of two civilizations: the Land civilization, represented by Russia, and the Sea civilization, represented by the US. It is a standoff between a trade-based system, and a heroic civilization, between Carthage and…
The US and its allies have lost all their patience after Syria hasn’t shown any sincere willingness to make progress on the Russian-led peace process, with these hostile forces interpreting Damascus’ “dilly-dallying” as indefinitely prolonging Iran & Hezbollah’s military role in the country and therefore triggering Washington to order the latest audacious chemical weapons false…
As presidents Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani and Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Ankara for a second Russia-Iran-Turkey summit on the future of Syria, Moscow hosted its 7th International Security Conference attended by defense ministers from dozens of nations. A more graphic illustration of the synchronicity drive towards Eurasia integration would be hard to find. Crucially,…
