One of the early consequences of the Saudi invasion of Yemen was that the local affiliate, called al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), seized substantial territory in the south. AQAP is no longer seen as nearly so high profile, carrying out occasional attacks on...
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has very publicly rejected President Trump’s demand he be prevented from returning to power, declaring it “blatant American interference in Iraq’s internal affairs,” and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. Iraq held its most...
If you put aside the continued fighting in several parts of northern and eastern Syria, and the mounting humanitarian crisis among civilians displaced by the fighting, the ceasefire between the Syrian government and the Kurdish SDF is holding. The tribal-backed...
Iraq’s Coordination Framework has nominated Nouri al-Maliki as their leader to attempt to form the next Iraqi government after November’s election. Maliki was Iraq’s premier from 2006 to 2014, and has led the State of Law bloc since then, trying to return to the...
Iraq had a parliamentary election in late 2025, with the results ratified in mid-December. This, as usual, led to a scramble to try to form a majority coalition out of a large number of political parties that gained meaningful seats in a situation where the plurality...
The US has effectively declared an end to their military support for the Syrian Kurdish SDF is causing no small amount of resentment in the Kurdish community, which after a long-term partnership feels that they are watching a “betrayal” in real time, as Syrian...
With the fighting continue to rage and north and northeast Syria between central government forces and the nation’s Kurdish minority, the US government appears to have decided that they are backing the former, and that US military support for the Syrian Kurds is over....
The ceasefire between the Kurdish SDF and the Syrian military seems to be completely in tatters Tuesday, as the SDF General Command called for a full mobilization of their forces amid ongoing attacks by the military on their territory in northeast Syria. Sunday’s...
US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that they have carried out “large-scale” airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, saying the hit multiple sites belonging to the terror group as part of their commitment to “pursuing terrorists” and in retaliation for the mid-December...
The high-profile Paris talks between Syrian and Israeli officials on Tuesday marked the resumption of direct negotiations under US mediation, and reportedly are going much better than anticipated, with substantial deals already in hand and reports that they will...
