A quarter-century ago, China conducted what it called “missile tests” bracketing the island of Taiwan to deter it from a move toward independence by demonstrating that China could cut Taiwan’s ocean lifelines. In response, in a show of superiority that forced China to back down, the United States deployed two …
Read More »Syrian jihadist group HTS, armed groups agree to uneasy truce
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has seized several cities and towns in areas under the control of the Turkish-backed factions after days of clashes between rival factions. Areas controlled by the Syrian National Army (SNA) — which is affiliated with the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) — in the eastern and northern …
Read More »Russia oversees Syrian forces’ military exercises in northwest Syria
Russia is testing the readiness of the Syrian government forces in their area of deployment on the outskirts of Idlib, in what some fear is a prelude to a wide-scale military operation to uproot the opposition in northwest Syria. The Syrian government forces, under the supervision of Russian forces, conducted …
Read More »Islamic State regains momentum in Syria’s Kurdish areas
The Islamic State has launched several attacks against the Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria amid lax security by the Syrian Democratic Forces. The Islamic State has recently renewed its activities in the areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria. On Oct. 14, IS …
Read More »Iran protests continue in universities
Protests in Iran have continued to spread to universities, presenting a new challenge to the Islamic Republic. The protests in Iran that started in mid-September over the death of a young woman in police custody have spread to universities, which have been a historic hotbed of unrest in the country …
Read More »What are kamikaze drones? Here’s how Russia and Ukraine are using them.
This week, Russia struck deep into Ukraine and hit the capital, Kyiv, with kamikaze drones. These small and noisy airborne devices are designed to strike at a distance. They are nimble enough to avoid many air defense systems. Unlike many other attack drones, they do not use weapons to destroy …
Read More »Why the West is Losing the Global Information War Over Ukraine and How It Can Be Fixed
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law and strikes at the core principles of the UN. This has been widely accepted by political elites and the public at large in the United States and across Europe. In the West, there is a sense of triumphalism and …
Read More »Israel, Iran, and the metastasizing war in Ukraine
Wars tend to spread, infecting parts of the world far from the frontlines and the Ukraine conflict is no exception. The global economic ripple effects of the war in Ukraine – from the world’s sharpest “hunger pains” since World War II to soaring inflation and energy crises – have been …
Read More »Why Crimea is the key to the Ukraine war
Many talk about the peninsula’s ethnic ties to Russia, but less so about its strategic implications. The explosions that damaged the Kerch bridge nearly two weeks ago have put the spotlight back on the strategic significance of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in March 2014. Just before …
Read More »The Wishful Theory of ‘Strategic Russian Defeat’
Throughout the eight months of the Ukraine invasion, Vladimir Putin has stressed that his war is an existential struggle for Russia, a fight for a new world order. Now, important Western policy thinkers appear to be coming to the same conclusion: The narrative is shifting from helping Ukraine win to …
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