Many observers expected that the US would provide long-range missiles to Kiev in order to enable it to strike the Russian heartland, yet US President Biden just surprised everyone by announcing that his administration isn’t considering such shipments. This sudden curveball deserves to be analyzed since it doesn’t conform to the proxy war model upon…
Ukraine and Syria are of premier national security importance for Russia and Turkey respectively, which is why it’s important for both Great Powers to not directly interfere with the other’s operations there even if they sincerely regard them as illegitimate and don’t shy away from publicly saying so. Turkish President Erdogan recently revealed that his…
NATO’s spat over Turkish opposition to Swedish and Finnish membership is about more than expanding the North Atlantic military alliance. It’s as much about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s immediate political goals as Turkey’s positioning itself in a new 21st-century world order. On its surface, the spat is about Turkish efforts to hinder support for…
It’s unrealistic that China would ever abandon its investments in Russia or Pakistan, but those two’s connectivity roles for it vis-à-vis the EU and West Asia/Africa respectively can be complemented by Turkey and Iran via the Middle Corridor. Up until the beginning of this year, China’s grand strategy was to rely on a network of…
For many a year, relations between Ankara and Washington have been characterized by an “unstable balance.” If initially, when Erdogan first came to power, his Justice and Development Party (AKP) was supported by the United States, then over time it has ceased to be an American project, demonstrating (as well as Erdogan himself) more and…
I am in Turkey because, if there is to be movement in ending the war in Ukraine, it will happen here. President Erdogan’s firm stance on a potential veto of Swedish and Finnish NATO membership is framed in public only in relation to perceived support by those countries for Kurdish resistance groups. But of course…
