Al Shabaab’s killing of an American soldier in southern Somalia brings AFRICOM back into the limelight and restarts the conversation about why US troops are even still there in the first place. The news came in on Friday that Al Shabaab terrorists had killed an American soldier in southern Somalia and injured four others Continue Reading
Most Americans probably chuckled when they read the unverified reports that Trump blamed Canadians for burning down the White House during the War of 1812, though the quip itself embodied the exceptionalism that America is known for by selectively – and hypocritically – choosing one event in order to define Continue Reading
Instead of looking at Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal as being solely motivated against the US’ top Mideast foe, it’s worthwhile to consider whether it was also a preplanned power play against the EU. There’s been plenty of analysis put out over the past month since Trump’s withdrawal from the Continue Reading
The so-called “Manbij Model” that the US and Turkey agreed to in jointly administering the strategic city following the YPG’s withdrawal is promising but nevertheless imperfect because it fails to address the Kurdish-led “deep state” that controls the SDF’s political and military activities in northeastern Syria. The US and Turkey Continue Reading
The announcement by Qatar’s Defense Minister that his tiny but strategically positioned country is considering membership in NATO shouldn’t be taken at face value but instead analyzed for its symbolism in the tense context of contemporary Gulf geopolitics. The Qatari Defense Minister surprised many observers by announcing that his tiny but strategically Continue Reading
The controversy over Iranian “advisors” in Syria and their actual battlefield function is nothing more than a word game designed to delay the “phased withdrawal” of Tehran’s forces. The US, “Israel”, and even Russia have called for the withdrawal of Iranian troops from Syria, albeit for different reasons and expressed Continue Reading
The judicial reform processes underway in Poland and Hungary are being derided by the EU as a “disease” that could “spread to the neighboring countries”, though they’re actually a liberating remedy from liberal totalitarianism and that’s why Brussels is so scared of them. The head of the “European Network of Continue Reading
President Putin’s surprise announcement that Russia is ready to maintain gas transit through Ukraine has left people wondering whether both sides’ pipeline jostling over the past couple of years was ultimately all for naught if the pre-Maidan status quo ultimately returns. President Putin took the world off guard by announcing that Russia Continue Reading
The fast-moving and full-spectrum Russian-Saudi rapprochement has now been revealed to have taken on peacemaking dimensions in Syria. The Saudi Ambassador to Russia gave an exclusive interview to Sputnik where he revealed that the two Great Powers are working more closely together in Syria than had previously been acknowledged. Up until this Continue Reading
Look past the smokescreen and it’s obvious that the failing state of Serbia is dying, literally, and the only thing that can save it is if Belgrade boldly breaks with its “balancing” tradition of the past and embraces China as much as possible, albeit in a smart way that leads Continue Reading
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