Iraq continues to face varied challenges, including domestic divisions within and between its major communities, as well as pressure from its powerful neighbor, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran’s Shia allies in Iraq, who dominate the Baghdad government, are attempting to limit Iraqi Kurdish self-rule in northern Iraq. Divisions within …

While Türkiye has announced the project cannot happen without its cooperation, experts also warn the new Western-led project could entail a number of logistical issues and comes amid escalating tensions between the US and China.. On September 9, amid the G20 leaders’ summit hosted in India, the US, Saudi Arabia, …

French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that France will end its military presence in Niger and pull its ambassador out of the country after its democratically elected president was deposed in a coup. The announcement is a significant, if predicted, blow to France’s policy in Africa, after French troops pulled …

Les révélations sur ce que Victoria Nuland a appelé par euphémisme «installations de recherche biologique» en Ukraine sont généralement liées au début de la contre-offensive stratégique de la Russie contre l’agression de l’OTAN en Europe (SMO). Cependant, la vérité est que les États-Unis disposent d’un programme massif d’armes biologiques depuis …

Tensions continue to rise along the Lebanese border, centered around the town of Ghajar, a disputed area that straddles Lebanon and Syrian territory captured and occupied by Israel in 1967. What seems to be unfolding as a controlled escalation, deterring all sides from a more intense conflagration, could give way …

Fighting recently erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan, centered around the historically disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is de jure part of Azerbaijan, but is administered by the majority Armenian population, leading to lingering ethnic conflict. Conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has the potential to drag in regional powers, including Turkey, …

Russians have become increasingly accustomed to, if not comfortable with, the expansion of Chinese influence in the Russian Far East, along the Northern Sea Route, and in some of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and the South Caucasus (see EDM, March 9, May 24, August 10). Now, the …

The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, and Turkey convened a tripartite summit in the Astana format during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, aiming to promote peace and stability in Syria. In attendance at the meeting were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Russian Foreign …

Senior U.S. officials are upbeat about the prospects for improved relations with Central Asia’s five republics following a first-of-its-kind summit between the region’s leaders and President Joe Biden in New York this week. “I think we’ve heard an openness from all our Central Asian colleagues and really a desire for …

US President Joe Biden’s administration came into office with a pledge of normalcy, and its Middle East policy has largely hewed to a “normal” US administration. It is pro-Israeli, it is concerned about Iran and it is generally accommodating to the Arab Gulf states. And yet, the Biden administration’s policy …