June 21, 2020 Eurasia, Middle Orient, Turkey
Jets from Turkey carried out cross-border airstrikes on Monday targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Turkish Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, announced Turkish authorities.
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June 21, 2020 Eurasia
Donald Trump claims to be the law-and-order president of the United States. There does not seem much sign of this as the stitching of the Republic gets undone. Protestors have been given a considerable roughing up across several states; police forces are in retreat before proposals of defunding while protocols …
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June 21, 2020 Eurasia, Middle Orient, Turkey
Context: Turkey’s conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – recognised as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU – continues in south-eastern Turkey and northern Iraq. In northern Syria, Ankara and the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the People’s Protection Forces (YPG), remain pitted against each other. On …
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June 21, 2020 Eurasia, Iran, Middle Orient
Conservatives won big in Iran’s February legislative election. Disqualification of rivals, low turnout and coordination among factions may portend their victory in the 2021 presidential contest as well. Should an opportunity arise to reduce U.S.-Iranian tensions between now and then, it should be seized.
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June 21, 2020 Eurasia, Middle Orient
An uprising of unprecedented scope has rocked Lebanon as the country’s economy tumbles deeper into recession. Poverty and unemployment could lead to violent unrest. Donors should put together an emergency package but condition further aid upon reforms to tackle corruption, a major grievance driving protest. What’s new? The impact of the …
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June 20, 2020 Eurasia
In the fall of 1997, at the Carlton Hotel in Damascus, a simple wedding was held for the man who would become Syria’s richest businessman and the regime’s financial arm. Rami Makhlouf, Bashar al-Assad’s maternal cousin, was getting married. The Makhlouf family chose a four-star hotel as they liked to …
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June 20, 2020 Eurasia, Middle Orient
The U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue that will be launched this week provides an opportunity for the two sides to put their relations, as Iraqi President Dr. Barham Salih said last April, “in the right context.” A dialogue gives both parties a chance to air their grievances, and there are at least …
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June 20, 2020 Eurasia, India, South East Asia
Bottom Line Up Front China and India—two nuclear-armed powers with the largest populations in the world—have recently been engaged in a tense standoff along one of the world’s longest shared land borders. While this is not the first time China and India have clashed over territorial demarcation, what is different …
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June 20, 2020 Eurasia, Middle Orient
Bottom Line Up Front The domestic challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak and social unrest in the United States are necessitating Trump administration adjustments to policy in the Middle East. The twin crises are likely to limit the Trump administration’s willingness to address tensions with any of its regional adversaries. …
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June 20, 2020 Eurasia, Middle Orient
Bottom Line Up Front In this photo taken from video is Abdelmalek Droukdel. The French military and allied forces in Mali killed the longtime leader of al-Qaida’s North African arm, who commanded jihadists in his native Algeria and then spread their movement across Africa’s Sahel region, France’s defense minister said …
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