Latest in Kurds
The new agreement represents progress between Baghdad and Erbil, but will need revision to address the concerns of Yazidis and others in the disputed territories.
Are the Kurds seeking self-governance in northern Syria protected?
Turkey's hardline policy toward the Syrian Kurds has left Ankara with no good options.
What will happen to the foreign fighters who traveled to Iraq and Syria to combat the Islamic State?
The United States still has some leverage to push for a deal.
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.
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.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Order from Chaos.
President Trump’s sudden announcement that the U.S. would withdraw forces from along the Syria-Turkey border has already had dramatic consequences.
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
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