In mid-June, Washington imposed harsh economic sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Act. A key US objective behind these sanctions is to prevent President Bashar al-Assad from achieving a true victory in the civil war.
A month on from the deal signed between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a truce remains in place in Idlib, the last rebel redoubt in Syria. The deal allowed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was notably not involved in the negotiations, to...
On February 28, Turkey opened its borders with the European Union in the wake of the death of 34 Turkish soldiers in Syria. In response, Greece and Bulgaria stepped their border protections, insisting that they would not admit any Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war. In the meantime, the EU...
Since the 2013 coup in Egypt, Cairo has consistently supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In October 2019, after Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeast Syria, Egypt became more supportive of the government in Damascus.
There is a strange irony to the latest Turkish offensive announced in northern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan couched it on his Twitter feed as a move that will “preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and liberate local communities from terrorists.” Yet the creation of a “safe...
Over the last few weeks, the northwestern area of Idlib province in Syria has come under constant bombardment from regime forces and its allies. With a disturbing civilian casualty count mounting and a nation in upheaval after years of civil war, waning global attention is causing concern that one...
In Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped in what the UN has described as an unfolding humanitarian disaster.
As the 2020 elections approach, watch out: There’s one possible American war still to come in the greater Middle East. Here’s a statement it might be hard to disagree with: American war is off the charts. Still, I’d like to explain, but I’m nervous about doing so. I know perfectly...
In the Middle East, frontlines and tactics may be shifting, but US and Gulf geopolitical goals have not. Donald Trump’s threat to “devastate” the Turkish economy if Ankara attacks Syrian Kurds serves his broader goal of letting regional forces fight for common goals, like countering...
World Refugee Day should be an observance of communities that have opened their hearts and cities to those in need. While I have often expressed my thoughts about the Syrian, Palestinian and Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, even including the burdens carried by Jordan and Palestine, it is only a...
