The growing military and humanitarian crisis near Idlib in northern Syria does not itself fundamentally endanger the West. But what happens in Syria has consequences that reverberate beyond its borders. The West’s current containment strategy might not suffice to address related challenges that are being exacerbated…
The chances of military escalation between Israel and Iran have steadily risen in recent months. Israel has struck Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq; Iran has retaliated, and Russia has done little to actively minimize Iranian presence in Syria while…
President Donald Trump announced that his administration would lift sanctions on Turkey after the Turkish government agreed to permanently abide by a ceasefire in northeast Syria. Instead of withdrawing all troops, a few hundred will remain not to re-engage against a resurging Islamic State but…
What should Washington do now? That’s the urgent question following President Trump’s unforced error of green-lighting Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria. The decision dealt a severe blow to US interests and credibility. Trump must reverse course. A return to the way things…
As Turkish troops fought Kurdish militants over the past week, a parallel but bloodless battle played out among Iran hawks in Washington over the wisdom of the US pullout from northeast Syria. Bipartisan condemnation of President Donald Trump’s perceived green…
(October 17, 2019 / JNS) The abrupt decision by U.S. President Donald Trump last week to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria has led to a major foreign-policy crisis in the region and worldwide. Equally as important are the changing roles…
… Iran, Iran, Iran Israel’s greatest fear as the civil war in Syria winds down is that the Assad regime’s main backer and Israel’s deadliest enemy, Iran, will establish a permanent beachhead in the country. “You’re going to be creating…
… But not everyone is profoundly troubled about Trump’s apparent exodus from the Middle East. Former Israeli national security adviser Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, for instance, argued that not much will change, in practical terms, for the security of…
… Two Middle East analysts questioned Erdogan’s motives and the ability of the Turkish military to carry out the plan. “There’s a lot of reticence to test the proposition that the Turkish military is capable of carrying this out,” said…
Former United States Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman criticized the Trump administration’s pending withdrawal from Syria as likely “creating a vacuum” that will be filled by bad actors in an Oct. 8 Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA)…