Toplines The Kremlin continues cognitive warfare efforts to attempt to convince the West to abandon Ukraine by projecting the false narrative that Russian battlefield victory in Ukraine is inevitable and that Russian forces are making widespread battlefield gains. Russian Chief of the General Staff’s Main Operations Directorate Colonel General Sergei …

Toplines Iran is unlikely to make any meaningful nuclear concessions in its upcoming draft proposal to the United States. Iran may calculate that it can delay the strikes if it offers a sufficiently conciliatory proposal, however. US President Donald Trump gave Iran on February 20 a deadline of “10 to …

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan left the inaugural Board of Peace summit in Washington without securing a spot for Turkish troops in Gaza’s International Stabilization Force (ISF). Turkey’s exclusion from the ISF roster dampens President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s longtime desire to put boots on the ground in Gaza, despite his …

The United States’ rapid military buildup across the Gulf has triggered a familiar anxiety in Iran, but the Iranians’ reading of American intentions has grown sharper and more layered than at any point in recent years. Iranian officials and analysts now assume that the goal is neither a full-scale war …

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, announced today, Friday, February 20, the return of Iraqi nationals from al-Hol camp in the countryside of al-Hasakah province in northeastern Syria. The camp has housed families of Islamic State fighters alongside displaced civilians for years. UNHCR Representative in Syria Gonzalo Vargas …

Excerpt On February 11, Turkish lawmakers came to blows on the parliament floor over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to appoint new justice and interior ministers. Cabinet reshuffles are routine in Erdogan’s Turkey, serving as a calculated mechanism to purge insufficiently loyal officials and replace them with figures willing to …

Despite the SDF’s integration deal and peace talks with the PKK, Turkey appears set to maintain a long-term military presence in Syria and Iraq Despite the recent setback for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and a renewed peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkey shows no signs …

Recent threats from Hamas’s armed wing against Israeli-backed militias in Gaza have heightened concerns that tensions will escalate into open confrontation Recent threats by Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, against Israeli-backed militias operating in Gaza have raised fears about the possibility of an impending armed confrontation. A complex network …

Recent clashes between government forces and French-speaking fighters in northern Syria have rekindled concerns about military and social integration Damascus, Syria – A group of Uyghur men laughed uproariously over a Syrian friend’s seemingly vain requests for a waiter to take better photos of them together, as they shared food …

The second convening of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Washington on February 19 was intended to highlight progress toward a post-war vision for Gaza. The event featured detailed presentations on reconstruction, governance mechanisms, and timelines. Yet two core issues remained conspicuously vague: how Hamas will be disarmed, and …