Turkey’s IS test
The recent claim by Recep Tayip Erdogan, Turkey’s intrepid president, to go for the jugular of the militant Islamic State group in Syria, and take his fight against the terrorists…
Rosneft fuels foreign policy goals
Whether investing in China, Venezuela or Iraq, Russian oil giant Rosneft closely follows Moscow's geopolitical interests as the Kremlin-controlled company seeks to expand its nation's influence, at times in unstable…
Iraq seeks role as mediator with regional Summit
After decades of conflict, Iraq will pitch itself as a regional mediator as it hosts a leaders’ summit this week — despite foreign influence on its territory and a grinding…
Iraq’s Mosul strains to revive manufacturing past
Its wool could once be found in French marketplaces and its cement as far away as Singapore. But after years of fighting, Iraq’s Mosul has yet to regain its former…
Trump on quest for foreign wins – and drama – in election year
President Donald Trump has shattered norms and niceties on the world stage in his nearly three years in office. Entering an election year, Trump is unlikely to slow down as…
Manufacturing optimism for all sides
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is usually known for picking his fights publicly and forcefully without any need to hide behind the diplomatic niceties to avail any plausible deniability. In…
Turkish president gains upper hand in power struggle
At the crossroads between a divided Europe and a convulsed Middle East, Turkey is caught in a power struggle between former Islamist allies which is shaking democratic institutions and raises…
Syrian civil war: Fruits of foreign intervention
THE chaos and carnage that has now spread from Afghanistan through West Asia and the Levant to North Africa and the Sahel is widely ascribed to Al Qaeda, the militant…
Circle of death
The extraordinary attempt earlier this month by 47 United States senators to sabotage one of their nation’s most significant diplomatic initiatives served as a reminder that some of the Obama…
Forced to strike IS, Turkey gambles on attacking PKK
Forced after months of hesitation to take decisive action against Islamic State jihadists, Turkey has seized the chance to also attack Kurdish militants in strikes that put a fragile peace…
