Recent Posts

Turkey Puts Fragile Deal Between Damascus and Kurdish Forces at Greater Risk

If the agreement collapses, violence may be imminent. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have spent months negotiating with the government in Damascus how to implement their March agreement for the SDF to merge with the national armed forces. Mistrust of government centralization and recent sectarian massacres have shaken the …

Read More »

China is overplaying its hand on rare earth materials

When President Trump travels to Beijing early next year to finalize a new trade deal, China will deploy one of its favorite pressure tactics: restricting exports of rare earth elements. Last month, The New York Times’s Thomas Friedman warned that China’s threat to cut off rare earth exports could “trump …

Read More »