Eurasia

Lead figures in the Assad regime’s Qatirji oil-smuggling network were among those sanctioned. Members of the Riyadh-based Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), which includes the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, blacklisted 13 individuals and three organizations for financing terrorism on Monday. Among …

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham continues to restrict humanitarian organizations operating in its areas of control in northwestern Syria. Through its Salvation Government, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, has been seeking to fully control the humanitarian aid that is being provided to the displaced in Idlib province …

Receiving Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu maintains that the creation of a safe maritime corridor for Ukrainian grain exports should be accompanied by the easing of sanctions against Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated his country’s “understanding” of Turkish security concerns along …

Net withdrawals of natural gas from U.S. storage totaled 2,264 billion cubic feet (Bcf) this winter (November through March). This amount is the most natural gas withdrawn from storage since the winter of 2017–18 and 10% more than the previous five-year (2016–17 to 2021–22) average, according to our recently released …

US and European acquiescence in Turkey’s long-standing refusal to honour Kurdish ethnic, cultural, and political rights has come home to roost with Turkish opposition to Finnish and Swedish NATO membership. The opposition has sparked debates about Turkey’s controversial place in the North Atlantic defense alliance. Turkey’s detractors point to its …

Of Parity, Assured Destruction, & Mistrust For the last 77 years, since the US first detonated nuclear weapons and annihilated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an eerie ambivalence has prevailed on the subject of nuclear use. On the one hand, some scholars and practitioners are convinced of the …

Szef brytyjskiego rządu przetrwał dramatyczne głosowanie w Izbie Gmin i zachowa stanowisko, ale nie oznacza to końca jego kłopotów. Krytyka wyborców i opozycja w partii mogą usunąć go z 10 Downing Street jeszcze w tym roku. Za pozostaniem Borisa Johnsona w fotelu premiera opowiedziało się 211 członków Izby Gmin z …

Both sides have up held parts of the bargain but the reprieve in violence is fragile. Washington cannot ignore its own role moving forward. Yemen’s two month ceasefire is set to expire today. Will the warring parties agree to extend it? It looks like it.*According to Al Jazeera on Thursday …

If reports of a new agreement with Abu Dhabi are true it will not only entrench us in the region but heap rewards on a bad regional actor. The Biden administration is reportedly discussing a new agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that would include new U.S. strategic security …

MBS is playing hardball with the United States, and the White House is just letting him win. Why? Last night, the New York Times broke the news that President Biden plans to travel this Summer to Saudi Arabia, effectively signaling the administration’s intent to end its paltry efforts to correct …