Turkey’s motivations for re-engaging with Syria after ending ties in 2011 are driven by regional security concerns, domestic political pressures, and the broader geopolitical landscape. With that in mind, Ankara’s primary objectives include addressing the People’s Defense Units (YPG) threat, facilitating the return of refugees, and seeking political stability in Syria—actions that are heavily influenced
Last February, Reuters reported that Iran had exported about four hundred Fateh-110 ballistic missiles to Russia—a more lethal weapons system than the slow-moving armed drones that Tehran has been shipping to Moscow for use in its war against Ukraine. On August 9, though, Reuters reported that unnamed “European intelligence sources” said that “no transfer had
In its landmark 2010 Strategic Concept, NATO identified three essential core tasks: collective defense, crisis management, and cooperative security. The first two are rather self-explanatory, but the third was an important advancement. The notion of collective security as a core task starts with a recognition that NATO “is affected by, and can affect, political and
A decade since the start of armed US intervention in the Syrian crisis, Turkey and the United States remain locked in a disagreement that impedes cooperation on the entire Syria file. Ankara demands that Washington halt its support for its chosen partners in northeast Syria, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed People’s Defense
Last Friday, Belarus introduced a new visa-free regime allowing citizens from thirty-five European countries to stay for up to ninety days per year. This move is notable given the current tensions between the Belarusian regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and the West. The visa-free policy seems to be a strategic propaganda effort from Minsk to ease
There’s no going back. At the NATO Summit in Washington this week, heads of state and government from the Alliance’s thirty-two allies pledged to support Ukraine on an “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.” However, the allies left open when exactly that membership would come, instead noting simply that they “will be
In June, much of the world saw not only rising temperatures, but also multiplying stresses on the world order. Israel and Hamas still did not agree on a cease-fire, despite hopes earlier in the month that both sides would sign onto a previously floated three-phase plan. Tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military
From July 9 to 11, the United States will host the NATO Summit in Washington, marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of what has been deemed by some as the world’s “most successful military alliance.” While the summit will mark an important milestone in NATO’s history, it will also provide an opportunity to discuss the future of the Alliance and for
NATO’s Dutch tilt is official. After a seven-month campaign, outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte received unanimous approval from all thirty-two NATO member states to become the Alliance’s next secretary general. Rutte won his last remaining necessary endorsement from Romania on Thursday. A staunch advocate of military aid for Ukraine with a political reputation as
While some elements that constitute the Syrian National Army (SNA) have moved away from their revolutionary foundations and turned into a contractor structure for Turkey’s foreign operations across various regional conflicts, others are trying to transform into an organized army under civilian leadership. Although the SNA’s previous attempts at institutionalization and reform through coalitions of
