Syria

Syria: Has A Breakthrough Happened?

By Frederic C. Hof

The Obama administration on June 26 announced it would seek from Congress $500 million “to train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the moderate Syrian armed opposition.” Does this announcement herald a long (two year) overdue alignment of US policy to the reality of what is happening to Syria?

Solving the ISIS Crisis

The situation in Iraq has become more dire by the day. Ever since the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) crossed from Syria into Iraq, the group’s march through the country’s north has not only facilitated the acquisition of weapons and resources, but also bolstered its standing among disenfrachised and frustrated men on both […]

Losing Syria and Iraq to jihadists

By Faysal Itani

Jihadists in Iraq and Syria, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) are capturing cities, energy assets, and military hardware daily. They now control a territory the size of Jordan and are building a state from which they aspire and are increasingly able to attack US regional interests, allies, and the United […]

Will Hezbollah Expand Operations to Iraq?

By Karen Leigh

Lebanese security forces stormed the third-floor room of a suicide bomber at the Duroy Hotel in the upscale Beirut neighborhood of Raouche on June 25. They said it was a preventative measure, that the bomber—who blew himself up when police arrived—would have done it elsewhere, later.

NATO Allies Mull Ending Patriot Mission in Turkey

By World Bulletin

NATO allies have started preliminary consultations on concluding the Patriot missile mission in Turkey at the end of 2014, German media reported on Sunday.

Syria: Farmers, Teachers, Pharmacists, and Dentists

By Frederic C. Hof

In his June 19 press remarks about the situation in Iraq, President Barack Obama was asked whether the expansion of Syria’s war into Iraq courtesy of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had changed his mind about the urgency of providing meaningful military assistance to Syrian nationalists ready and willing to fight jihadists […]

Syria and Iraq: The “Skyes-Picot” Issue

By Frederic C. Hof

The violent convulsions gripping Syria and Iraq have given rise to the argument that the “Sykes-Picot” boundaries imposed by France and Britain in the Levant and Mesopotamia after the First World War will have to be redrawn to recognize and reconcile ethnic and sectarian divisions papered over by the Great War’s victorious allies.  As someone […]