Category: Blogs

Ankara and Washington: Can “Yes” on Syria Be Achieved?

By Frederic C. Hof

The visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House offers an opportunity for two NATO allies to get to “Yes” on Syria. It is important that they do so. Yet as matters now stand it is doubtful that they will, and each side bears responsibility for a bilateral split that is entirely […]

Ukraine PM Groisman Visits Israel, Marking Improvement in Delicate Bilateral Relations

By Larry Luxner

The May 14 arrival of Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman to Israel signals a rapprochement of ties that suffered a temporary blow last December, when Ukraine—along with thirteen other countries—voted to support a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Groisman is the first Jewish prime minister in Ukrainian history. He […]

Raqqa and the Oil Economy of ISIS

By Rachel Kreisman

Since establishing its headquarters in Raqqa, Syria, in 2011, the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) has introduced its own brand of governance, infrastructure, and business. Now entering its sixth year in Raqqa, ISIS has largely solidified its primary means of acquiring income, the majority of which include criminal and illicit activities. Like terrorist groups before […]

Discussion with Aaron Stein on the Decision to Arm the YPG

By SyriaSource

Listen to Rafik Hariri Center’s Senior Resident Fellow on Turkey, Aaron Stein‘s commentary on the decision by the Trump administration to arm the YPG and how it could affect US-Turkey relations and the military campaign in Syria. 

Trump: NATO Receiving Billions More from Allies, ‘All Because of Me’

By Donald Trump, Time

You know we’ve gotten billions of dollars more in NATO that we’re getting. All because of me.

TRADE in ACTION – May 12, 2017

By Global Business & Economics Program

This week in TradeinAction: Emmanuel Macron wins French presidency, routing Le Pen, Robert Lighthizer won Senate approval Thursday to become President Donald Trump’s top trade envoy, the G7 Finance Meeting starts today and European Trade Ministers meet in Council meeting to discuss Anti Dumping and Ukraine.

For the United States, ISIS Trumps Turkey

US President Donald J. Trump’s decision to arm Kurdish rebels in Syria, despite objections from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, indicates that the new administration’s Turkey policy is secondary to winning the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), according to an Atlantic Council analyst. This decision “would suggest to me that […]

Progress on Gender Equality in the Gulf but More Must Be Done

By MENASource

As the wealth of Arab states in the Gulf has increased over the past few decades, there has been a dramatic rise in parity between the education levels of men and women, with more women entering institutes of higher education, studying in Western countries, and entering the workforce, according to women leaders from the Gulf […]

How to Win Friends and Influence People on a Global Scale

By Alexandra Hall Hall

Dale Carnegie’s famous self-help book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, centers on investing in personal relationships in order to achieve success. US President Donald J. Trump has demonstrated an instinctive understanding of this principle in the way he has interacted with a succession of world leaders, whether over a round of golf at […]

The Ramifications of the SDF Governance Plan for Raqqa Post-ISIS

By Haid Haid

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the US-led coalition, has succeeded in encircling Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) in Syria. By capturing the surrounding villages and access routes to isolate the city, this strategy has contributed to weakening ISIS yet is unlikely to lead to a […]