Category: Blogs

The Shifting Strategies of ISIS

By Mona Alami

The battle for Mosul — the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) bastion in Iraq — is entering its sixth month with Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition controlling about three quarters of the city. While fighting is focused on capturing the symbolic Nuri mosque in the Old City, where the organization leader Abu Bakr […]

Rwandan President Kagame Seeks Transformation in US Ties

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The United States needs to shift its relationship with Africa from a predominantly humanitarian focus to “productive partnerships,” especially in business, strategic development, and security, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said at the Atlantic Council on March 27. “For decades, the United States has adopted a monolithic approach to Africa,” said Kagame. “It’s time for fresh […]

Putin Is a Prisoner of His Own Hybrid War

By Peter Dickinson

April will mark the third anniversary of Russia’s hybrid war in eastern Ukraine, with no end in sight to a tragedy that has already claimed over 10,000 Ukrainian lives. The conflict has devastated and transformed Ukraine in ways that will not be fully apparent for decades. Crucially, it has also brought little of value to […]

Beyond Syria: Iran and Future Conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia

By Ali Alfoneh

The catastrophic war in Syria seems to have gotten nearer to a tragic conclusion, but the end of this war may herald the beginning of other regional conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia. What began as peaceful protests against the Assad regime’s dictatorial rule, soon evolved into a proxy war between Iran on […]

Why Sunday’s Massive Protests Will Change Russia

By Natalia Arno

The poem and song, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” became a rallying cry for social injustice in America in the 1970s. It weaved its way through many cultural eras around the world and found its way to the streets of Russia on Sunday, March 26. Nearly 100,000 people went to the streets in more […]

Wanted: A Plan to Rebuild Syria

With no end in sight to a war that started six years ago, has claimed more than 465,000 lives, and displaced millions, it is fair to ask when is the right time to launch a much-needed effort to rebuild Syria. Should this effort start now, while the country is still ravaged by war, or once […]

What the Manafort-Yanukovych Axis of Corruption Means for Trump and Ukraine

By Sergii Leshchenko

For several months American journalists have been competing to expose agents of Russian influence inside the new White House. This is a result of the conflict that began during the US presidential election campaign when a majority of the mainstream media rallied against Trump while he, without any evidence, criticized them for being biased. One […]

US Lawmakers Remain Firm on Russia Sanctions

By Jack Gloss

US sanctions on Russia, imposed in response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014, must not only be maintained, “they should be tightened,” according to Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH). As recently as March 20, Russia has performed military drills practicing “offensive and defensive operations,” in Crimea, Chabot said, adding: “The fact that Russia has successfully […]

The Syrian Conflict Enters its Seventh Year

By Faysal Itani and Hossam Abouzahr

As the conflict in Syria enters its seventh year, it poses both new and old unanswered questions for US policy. The armed opposition is no longer a strategic threat to the Assad regime, and while international intervention would change that, it is unlikely. Fighting, which Assad is too weak to prevent, will continue in parts […]