Middle East

What’s the Alternative?

By Frederic C. Hof

One prays that Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest foray into the tangled web of Syrian diplomacy will bear the most precious fruit of all: the sustained and even permanent protection of Syrian civilians from the rapacious assaults of the Assad regime (fully supported by Iran), Russia, the Islamic State (ISIL, ISIS, Daesh), and others. […]

Iraqi Kurdistan oil and gas outlook

By John Roberts

As the war against ISIS renders borders increasingly malleable and further strains relations between Erbil and Baghdad, the likelihood of a declaration of independence from the Kurdistan region of Iraq increases. What are the options for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to capitalize on its oil and natural gas reserves, as well as options that would be available to an independent Kurdistan?

In Syria, the United States Must Navigate a Complex Intelligence-Sharing Landscape With Russia

The Obama administration will carefully consider what intelligence it shares with Russia pertaining to enemy targets in Syria in part due to the belief that the Russians do not apply the same degree of care to avoiding civilian casualties, a senior US official said at the Atlantic Council on September 13. Noting that the US […]

Fighters from the Caucasus Join ISIS to Fight Russia

By Feras Hanoush

People from the countries of the Caucasus, a region situated between Europe and Asia that broke politically from the Soviet Union in the late twentieth century, are an important resource for the Islamic State (ISIS).