(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)…
The major powers have a strong interest in preventing a return to fighting and further instability in the region. They should cooperate. The Syrian war was largely over by the end of 2018, but the country remains a bleeding hotspot…
After eight years of upheaval, the Middle East might seem incurably unstable, violent, and volatile to Americans. It is no surprise many have had enough of the region. But it also beckons with opportunity for those ambitious enough to capitalize…
Photo credit: Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images President Trump’s decision to keep several hundred troops in Syria is a welcome one. But it remains largely defensive, merely preventing the situation from worsening: the return of ISIS; Turkey overrunning our Kurdish partners; or…
The 68-23 vote by the Senate Thursday for an amendment opposing the withdrawal American troops from Syria and Afghanistan demonstrates the Republican-controlled chamber doesn’t support President Trump’s desire to pull U.S. troops out of both nations at this time. The amendment is…
Sometimes big things do come in small packages – 91 characters, to be exact. In one tweet President Trump abruptly declared mission accomplished in Syria and initiated a precipitous U.S. withdrawal that gives ISIS a lifeline while handing the strategic heart of the…