Turkey’s Syria strategy is at a critical juncture. Facing military deadlock, Russian resistance, and US economic pressure, Ankara is considering political avenues, potentially reshaping its Kurdish policy. Turkey is navigating multiple opposing strategies at once, from engaging with Damascus to eliminate the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria to allowing the imprisoned leader of
Original source On November 7th, 2024, Global China Hub nonresident fellow Wen-Ti Sung was quoted in a Business Times article on how a second Trump administration may approach relations with Taiwan: “Trump’s transactional nature means that U.S. support for Taiwan could come at a price.” China Conflict Crisis Management Defense Policy Elections Maritime Security Politics
Donald Trump’s election victory has sparked considerable disquiet in Ukraine, with many Ukrainians fearful that he may reduce or end US backing for the country once he takes office early next year. Trump provided Ukraine with significant military support during his first presidential term, but has also made a number of unfavorable statements that have
Get ready for the sequel. On November 6, the Associated Press declared Donald Trump the winner of the 2024 US presidential election. A transition now kicks off as world events continue to churn. When he returns to the presidency on January 20, Trump’s inbox will be full of global challenges. How will he respond? And
One of the many myths and legends surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the idea that Kyiv rejected a reasonable Russian peace deal in the early weeks of the war. In reality, recently obtained documents confirm that the terms offered by the Kremlin in spring 2022 would have left Ukraine partitioned, disarmed, internationally isolated,
Hezbollah has a new secretary-general, though far from the obvious choice. On October 29, the group announced that its demure and soft-spoken Naim Qassem, rumored to be hiding in Iran, had succeeded Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated on September 27, to Hezbollah’s top local post. Though entirely ideologically aligned, there is a vast contrast between
Over the past month two developments unfolded that together capture Israel’s predicament with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). First, a top Hamas commander, killed in combat in Lebanon, was revealed to be an UNRWA employee on administrative leave—signaling, once again, the involvement of local UNRWA
As Egypt continues to suffer the ramifications of the Israel-Hamas war that has dragged on for over a year on its northeastern border, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has proposed a new two-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Cairo hopes would ultimately lead to a broader, permanent truce. Announcing the ceasefire initiative during a press conference with
Pentagon officials and NATO chief Mark Rutte have this week confirmed that thousands of North Korean troops are currently in the process of joining Russia’s war against Ukraine. The arrival of North Korean soldiers on the battlefields of Europe is an historically unprecedented event that represents a major escalation in the largest European invasion since
Never before have the horrors of war been seen by so many, so quickly, so far away. In the digital age, photos and videos spread around the world on the internet in almost real time. Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression is no exception; few other armed conflicts have been accompanied by such a vast amount of
