Analysis & Commentary
Unsanctioned Investments
Millions of Americans may have unwittingly invested in a Turkish bank that has illegally helped Iran circumvent international economic sanctions meant to weaken its disputed nuclear program, according to investment...
Turkey’s Terror Finance Problem
Last week’s suicide bombing outside the U.S. embassy in Ankara, carried out by a Marxist Leninist group known as DHKP-C, drew condemnation from across the Turkish political spectrum.
The Kurds’ Sensitive Juncture
Last week’s killing in Paris of three female Kurdish activists with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has spurred much speculation about the party responsible for the assassinations and the purpose...
What Good is It Giving the Turks Patriot Missiles?
The Associated Press reports: “U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says NATO’s decision to send Patriot missiles to Turkey is a clear message to Syria: Turkey is backed by its allies.
The Frank Gaffney Show
Sebastian Gorka discusses Turkey, its growing Islamization and the affect the Syrian civil war is having on that change.
Senate Set to Consider Broader Economic Sanctions on Iran
The U.S. Senate is set to consider a broader set of economic sanctions on Iran's energy, port, shipping and shipbuilding sectors, as lawmakers look for new ways to pressure Tehran to stop efforts to...
Turks, Arabs and Jews: The Middle East in Crisis
Standing outside Istanbul's Blue Mosque on a Friday morning as the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer, curious tourists furtively peek through the windows in the hope of catching a glimpse of the beautiful...
Ground to a Halt
It’s been twenty months since the Syrian people rose up against the regime of Bashar Assad. During this time, large swathes of land in northwestern Syria have fallen out of government control.
A Pillar of Problems
Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense, after six days of air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, could be entering into a new phase of a larger ground invasion. While the war has been dissected six ways to...
Sitting Out the Syria Game
In the run-up to the US presidential election, Washington’s regional allies were convinced that the Obama administration’s lack of a Syria policy was due to the US president’s preoccupation with securing...
Helping to Hurt
Over the last two weeks, the Syrian regime has directed mortar and artillery fire at Turkish villages. The US ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, might have stated...
A Foreign Policy Without Principle or Prudence
After almost a week of exchanging fire with Syrian troops across its southern border, Turkey finds itself embroiled on another, albeit related, international front. Wednesday the Turkish air force scrambled...
Alawites and Alevis: What’s in a Name?
Tensions are rising on the Turkish-Syrian border, as Turkey recently became the first country to take direct military action against the al-Assad regime since Syria’s uprising...
News Update
The US's role in the uprising in Syria.
The Kurdish Factor
If Syria is a testing ground for the larger struggle of the American-led order in the Middle East against the Iranian-led resistance bloc, it’s also an example of the importance of the Kurds.
The Real War Redux: Syria’s Only One Battlefield, Stupid
Thanks to Claire Berlinski, we discover that the Turks are all of a sudden worried that the Arab Spring–so enthusiastically embraced by Ankara–shows signs of transmuting into the Kurdish Spring.
If Assad Falls, Who Wins?
UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has warned, “Syria is not Libya — it will not implode, it will explode beyond its borders.” With a bomb recently killing four of President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle...
Hamas Rising
Countries across the Middle East are opening their coffers to support the Palestinian cause -- but the funds are increasingly being diverted in a direction that portends renewed conflict with Israel.
To Topple Assad, Unleash the CIA
Does President Barack Obama want Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to fall? He's said he does, but fear of an interventionist slippery slope, re-election concerns, and anxiety about America's prominence...
The Syrian Conundrum
As the Syrian uprising enters its 17thmonth and the casualty toll mounts dramatically,Western inability to address the crisis, beyond strong rhetoric and sanctions, risks further harming Western interests in the region.
