August, 2021

• 16 August

  Beyond Business as Usual in Israel-Palestine

  The latest escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict brought important shifts in the status quo, underscoring the necessity of a political settlement. A peace based on equal respect for both peoples’ rights will take time, however. Steps to lower the temperature are urgent in the interim. What’s new? The Israeli-Palestinian conflict experienced …

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• 16 August

  Drug use surges in opposition-controlled areas in northwest Syria

  

  Security forces in the countryside of Aleppo are combating the spread of narcotic substances, amid growing demands for cooperation by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions. The use of narcotics is surging across the areas controlled by the armed Turkish-backed Syrian opposition in northwestern Syria. All efforts exerted by the …

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• 16 August

  Water protests erupt in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

  

  Much of the Middle East is suffering from water scarcity issues amid extremely high temperatures in the summer. Residents protested a lack of water in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region on Wednesday, according to local media outlets. The demonstration came amid wider water access issues in the region. Dozens of people in …

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• 16 August

  UN Syria envoy urges end to ‘siege-like’ situation in Daraa

  

  UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said Syrian civilians living under a government siege in the southwestern city are suffering from shortages of fuel, food and medicine. The United Nations’ special envoy for Syria on Thursday expressed concern over the “alarming situation” in Daraa, the birthplace of the Syrian …

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• 16 August

  Turkey ‘still in lead’ as US surges troops back to Kabul airport for evacuation

  

  The Pentagon is readying as many as 8,000 troops to facilitate the withdrawal of American and Afghan personnel. The Pentagon is deploying an additional 3,000 troops into Afghanistan to assist the evacuation of American and Afghan personnel amid sweeping Taliban advances across the country. Three infantry battalions — two from …

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• 16 August

  The Tunisian president’s political capital is finite

  

  President Kais Saied’s July 25 decisions to suspend parliament and the government appear to have been largely popular, despite sharp criticism from those denouncing them as a coup, unconstitutional, or a dangerous overstep of his authority. The mass celebrations in the streets that broke out immediately after his televised announcement …

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• 16 August

  Irregular Warfare: A Case Study in CIA and US Army Special Forces Operations in Northern Iraq, 2002-03

  

  Summary Irregular warfare (IW) is increasingly common in the 21st century and the U.S. must learn from its successful experiences with it and apply those lessons to great power competition. For the past two decades the CIA and Army Special Forces have demonstrated how to leverage interagency relationships and apply …

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• 16 August

  The two pillars of the Abraham Accords

  

  It has been a year since the August 2020 announcement of the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel. The accords were later signed at a White House ceremony attended by President Donald Trump that September. In less than a year the UAE and Israel swiftly …

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• 16 August

  Afghan Refugee Wave Sharpens EU-Turkey Migration Crisis

  

  Relations between Brussels and Ankara – already strained by earlier crises over refugees – face an even bigger test as the number of Afghans fleeing westwards rapidly increases. Thousands of refugees, mostly from Afghanistan and some other Asian countries, passing the Turkish-Iranian border, make regular new headlines in Turkey. A …

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• 16 August

  New Bosnian Peace Envoy Inherits Mission Impossible

  

  Christian Schmidt will need his wits about him – and the firm backing of Germany, the EU and US – if he is to avert a dangerous escalation in Bosnia. Bosnia’s new international High Representative, German Christian Schmidt, touched down at the beginning of August, but he will have scant …

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