Turkey
Turkey’s Unpalatable Choices in Syria
Galip Dalay Mon, Feb 24, 2020, 8:00 AM
Turkey's hardline policy toward the Syrian Kurds has left Ankara with no good options.
Latest in Kurds
Foreign Policy Essay
America’s Anti-Islamic State Volunteers
Shashi Jayakumar Sun, Dec 1, 2019, 10:00 AM
What will happen to the foreign fighters who traveled to Iraq and Syria to combat the Islamic State?
Syria
How to Salvage Syria and Protect U.S. Troops
Michael O'Hanlon Fri, Nov 22, 2019, 8:19 AM
The United States still has some leverage to push for a deal.
Syria
On the Ground in Northern Syria
Daniel Gabriel, Jens Dakin, Ali Sada Thu, Oct 24, 2019, 8:00 AM
President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from observation posts in northeastern Syria has paved the way for Turkey’s military offensive into areas inhabited by Syrian Kurds and other minority communities. In a little over two weeks, this region has gone from relative stability to a state of conflict, uncertainty and fragility. Since 2016 we have conducted hundreds of interviews with Syrians from all backgrounds, including current and former members of the Islamic State. We filmed and catalogued the rise of the Islamic State across the region and the caliphate’s subsequent demise.
Syria
Livestream: House Foreign Affairs Hearing on Kurdish Allies in Syria
Gordon Ahl Wed, Oct 23, 2019, 9:23 AM
On Oct. 23, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will host a hearing titled, "The Betrayal of Our Syrian Kurdish Partners: How Will American Foreign Policy and Leadership Recover?" The committee will hear testimony from James Jeffrey, the U.S. special representative for Syria engagement and the special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and Matthew Palmer, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.
Turkey
Can the Turkish Opposition Develop a Sustainable Kurdish Policy?
Galip Dalay Fri, Oct 18, 2019, 8:00 AM
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Order from Chaos.
ISIS
Accountability for Islamic State Fighters: What Are the Options?
Emma Broches Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:58 PM
President Trump’s sudden announcement that the U.S. would withdraw forces from along the Syria-Turkey border has already had dramatic consequences.
Foreign Policy Essay
Thinking Critically About “By, With, Through” in Syria, Iraq, and Beyond
Morgan Kaplan Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 10:00 AM
Editor’s Note: In the years since 9/11, the United States has waged war around the globe. It has often done so, however, “by, with, and through” local partners. Despite the importance of this approach and its overall value to the United States, its risks and limits do not receive enough attention. Morgan Kaplan of the Buffett Institute at Northwestern asks several probing questions about U.S. efforts to work with partners and concludes that this approach should not be uncritically embraced.
Daniel Byman
***
Middle East Ticker
Jordan Appoints New Prime Minister in Effort to Quell Economic Protests
J. Dana Stuster Tue, Jun 5, 2018, 10:56 AM
Jordan’s King Sacks Prime Minister amid Economic Protests
Iraq
Why the 2018 Election Season Isn’t Over for the Kurds
Morgan Kaplan Sun, May 13, 2018, 1:12 PM
This weekend, Iraqi citizens went to the polls to vote in the first parliamentary elections since the Islamic State seized—and subsequently lost—a third of the country’s territory in 2014.