A phone call between the Turkish and Saudi leaders generated hopes for thawing of relations between Ankara and Riyadh, but significant roadblocks must be removed to end bellicose affairs. As the unofficial Saudi-led boycott of Turkish goods in multiple Arab states is hurting the Turkish sphere of influence, King Salman …
Read More »A new page in Israeli-Saudi relations? Not so fast
With US President Donald Trump soon out of the picture, the Saudis prefer to take things slow with Israel, and await the new Biden administration. What’s going on between Israel and Saudi Arabia? The recent ups and downs in relations between these two regional powers are even more dizzying and …
Read More »Child recruitment casts shadow over Syrian Kurds' push for global legitimacy
Failed efforts to secure the return of a recent spate of Kurdish youth recruited to fight in northeast Syria shows the delicate path the region’s autonomous administration must navigate in its relations with the PKK.
Read More »America’s Dark Side
When I was in high school in the Bronx, there were round colored spots on the floor of the gym that showed us where to stand. The bigger, older kids would demand we pay a quarter for the spot, for which the school charged nothing. That’s what’s called a scam …
Read More »Trump’s Pernicious Military Legacy
In the military realm, Donald Trump will most likely be remembered for his insistence on ending America’s involvement in its twenty-first-century “forever wars” — the fruitless, relentless, mind-crushing military campaigns undertaken by Presidents Bush and Obama in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Somalia. After all, as a candidate, Trump pledged to …
Read More »Gangsterism as Foreign Policy: Assassinations are Becoming the New Norm
I was in Israel on 4 November 1995 when a student named Yigal Amir assassinated the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin as he left a peace rally in Tel Aviv. A video shows Amir loitering by an exit to the square for 40 minutes before Rabin appears, when his killer …
Read More »Mixed signals over Israel-Turkey relations
An article published in the Tel Aviv University Turkeyscope review might suggest that Ankara wants to rehabilitate its relations with Jerusalem. The Tel Aviv Moshe Dayan Institute published Dec. 7 an exceptional article, titled “Israel is Turkey’s Neighbor Across the Sea: Delimitation of the Maritime Jurisdiction Areas between Turkey and …
Read More »Opposition turns up pressure on Erdogan over defense dealings with Qatar
Turkey’s political opposition has stepped up pressure on the government over its often-opaque dealings with Qatar as the country’s tank production contract, awarded to a Turkish-Qatari joint venture, remains bogged down.
Read More »Eastern Libyan forces intercept Turkish ship en route to Misrata
Forces loyal to eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Hifter intercepted a Jamaican-flagged Turkish ship in the Mediterranean Sea late Monday in a move that could escalate regional tensions. A Turkish ship sailing under a Jamaican flag was intercepted by forces loyal to eastern Libyan leader Khalifa Hifter late Monday for reportedly …
Read More »Will Austin’s appointment see Israel move from EUCOM to CENTCOM?
Future US Pentagon chief Austin: I had a great relationship with Benny Gantz. During testimony before Congress in 2015, Gen. Lloyd Austin, then head of the US Central Command, told members of the House Armed Services Committee that he had a “great relationship” with former IDF chief of staff Benny …
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