Turkey in Syria: An Alternative View
Sinan Ciddi has written recently in the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune a multi-part analysis of Turkey in Syria (“Turkey’s Quiet Relationship with ISIS” and previous). His bottom-line argument is that Erdoğan’s Syria policy was driven largely, first, by his desire to spread and eventually lead, political Islam throughout the region, and, second, as a means to that […]
Russia's Return to Syria
On July 31, Syrian Foreign Minister Asa’ad al-Shaibani met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the same city where deposed President Bashar al-Asad now lives in exile. Shaibani was carrying an unexpected request. According to sources familiar with the meeting, Damascus asked Russia to resume military police patrols along Syria’s southern border with Israel. […]
The Saudi-Qatari Competition for Influence in Syria
With the Syrian state still in its formative stage, lacking a defined political identity, two Gulf monarchies – Qatar and Saudi Arabia – are seeking to dominate Syria. This competition will only intensify as the interim Syrian government of Ahmad al-Shara’a grapples with state-building. Qatar provided a cash infusion on August 6, when its UCC […]
Counter-Terrorism and Immortality
“O my soul, do not aspire to immortal life, but exhaust the limits of the possible.”Pindar, Pythian iii If only jihadists would heed Pindar’s timeless warning. By celebrating only “this life,” the classical Greek poet understood the hazards of seeking meanings beyond the grave. Much later, a similar warning was offered by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in […]
On Their Fifth Anniversary, Steps to Expand the Abraham Accords
There is much to celebrate as we mark the fifth anniversary of the Abraham Accords, the historic agreements mediated by the first Trump administration and signed on September 15, 2020 by Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain, and later by the Kingdom of Morocco. Long isolated from, and regularly vilified by, […]
The Future of the Israel-Azerbaijan Partnership: Will it Survive Iran Regime Change?
Today Jerusalem is all-in on Baku. The Israeli media repeatedly publish fawning accounts by analysts who participate in Azerbaijani junkets and partake in caviar diplomacy. But what happens to Israel-Azerbaijan bilateral relations if the partnership actually succeeds in ending Iran’s Islamic Republic? The 30-year partnership is based on a swap of arms for energy, paying […]
Why Spain Rejected NATO’s Defense Spending Hike
At the June 25 summit at The Hague, all but one of NATO’s 32 member states agreed to raise defense spending to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez rejected the increase, insisting that his country’s current plans to raise defense spending to two percent of GDP were […]
The War on Soft Power
In the first Trump administration, then director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney said “There’s no question this is a hard-power budget. It is not a soft-power budget. . . [We want] to send a message to our allies and our potential adversaries that this is a strong-power administration. So you have […]
Turkey’s Quiet Relationship with ISIS
On June 29, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in al-Sham (ISIS), was recorded on video speaking at the al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul, Iraq. (“Al-Sham” is the traditional Arabic name for the Levant.) He declared himself to be the caliph or divinely inspired absolute ruler of an Islamic state. ISIS had risen […]
Disarming Hizbullah in Lebanon
The Lebanese government has taken the unprecedented political step of forming a committee to create a plan for disarming the militia groups in the country, starting with “the low hanging fruit” of collecting weapons from Palestinian armed groups in a Palestinian camp in Beirut. But Israeli assessments indicate the new Lebanese government and its army leadership […]
Disarming Hizbullah: Much Talk, Little Action
The new Lebanese president, General Joseph Aoun, says in closed-door meetings that he has no intention whatsoever of sending his military to clash with Hizbullah. He insists that implementing the Lebanese government’s agreement to disarm Hizbullah must be preceded by dialogue and solid understandings. Aoun, as military chief before becoming president in January, instructed his […]
Turkey’s Push for Regime Change in Syria: The Jihadi Highway
Syria’s civil war broke out in March 2011, in reaction to the brutal crackdown by the regime of Bashar al-Asad of popular protests that were part of the wider Arab Spring. In supporting the Syrian rebels, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initially used the language of humanitarian intervention, claiming to protect civilians from the Asad […]
