Monthly Archives: March 2015

The sky is falling! The United States is about to knock over the first domino and start the nuclear proliferation chain reaction in the Middle East. With the region at war, the argument goes, the American attempt to negotiate with … Continue reading →

Wow. It has been a busy week. Turkish politics were turned upside down last week when AKP founder Bulent Arinc called out current Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, about his rhetoric surrounding the peace process. Arinc’s intervention prompted Erdogan ally, … Continue reading →

The PKK-AKP peace process has been put on ice. For political reasons, neither party can be seen as being too accommodating in these final ten weeks before Turkey’s June 2015 national election. The upcoming election is, in my opinion, the … Continue reading →

After threatening Erbil in August, Islamic State militants have steadily lost territory to the Kurdish Peshmerga. Backed by US airpower and Iranian military support, Kurdish forces have regained control over territory lost to ISIS, control much of Kirkuk, and are … Continue reading →

After the Islamic State’s rapid advance, tensions in Nineveh, an area of strategic importance for Turkish leaders, are on the rise. Turkey’s influence in Nineveh stems primarily from its relationship with three political parties: The Iraqi Islamic Party, Muttahidoon, whose … Continue reading →

Over the past couple of weeks, Turkey has announced some seemingly major changes to its approach to the war against the Islamic State. These recent news items include: An agreement with the United States to train and equip Syrian rebels … Continue reading →