The Kurds are often hailed as the West’s most reliable partner in the fight against the Islamic State. At the same time, they have taken advantage of the chaos in the region to get closer to achieving their dream of statehood.
The Kurds are often hailed as the West’s most reliable partner in the fight against the Islamic State. At the same time, they have taken advantage of the chaos in the region to get closer to achieving their dream of statehood.
Russian resurgence has planted seeds of conflict both within individual NATO members, as well as between different geographic areas of the alliance.
The current arrangement is not a long-term solution. More work is needed to develop a system to accommodate those fleeing violence in hopes of a better life.
Ankara has manifested a habit of eagerly seeking concessions and funding from the EU, but being notably less keen on keeping its own side of the bargains.
The recent fighting outbreak in Nagorno-Karabakh, the worst in a twenty years period, reveals a sweeping complexity of the longstanding geopolitical chessboard that is the South Caucasus.
In dealing with this immediate threat, it behooves the Turkish government to put politicking on the back-burner, separate the non-violent opposition from the violent, and mend fences with the former. Swallowing that bitter pill is necessary for terrorism to be brought “to its knees.”
The indiscriminate killing of civilians in order to fight terrorism is unlawful. Moreover, the state’s brutal response has actually led to an increase in the number of terrorist attacks.
The multiplicity of Kurdish national movements throughout the Middle East adds an additional layer of complexity in the fight against ISIS.
Turkey, long hailed as a bastion of secular democracy in the Muslim world, could be spiraling toward an all-out civil war as conflicts between Turkish security forces and Kurds as well as other ethnic minorities continue to escalate.
Lacking outside alliances and with the geopolitical situation slowly starting to tilt against it, Islamic State’s pretensions to act as a legitimate government seem to have its days numbered.
On remote Greek islands, grandmothers have sung terrified little babies to sleep, while teachers, pensioners and students have spent months offering food, shelter, clothing and comfort to refugees who have risked their lives to flee war and terror.
In the aftermath of the incident with Turkey, the next generation of Russian surface-to-air missile that concerned U.S. officials for so many years is now being deployed in Syria.
NATO’s cooperation with Algeria offers potential in combating international human trafficking networks. Reviving the ‘regional NATO’ plan for a joint military organization of Saharan states would allow governments to better disrupt the routes used to transport many migrants to the Mediterranean coast.
Being a Chinese tourist these days is not easy.
On paper, Turkmenistan would be a great match for Europe’s energy woes.