East Asia
China factor in the Trump world order
Xi Jinping is weighing whether he will be invited to join the authoritarian New Order—or whether Putin will desert him for Trump, and the two of them will gang up on China.
Tag: Great Game
Greater Middle East
The new Axis: Moscow, Damascus, Washington
Trump's election has given Russia a green light for the destruction of Aleppo; Bashar Assad now has the open support of both superpowers in his war of extermination.
Iraq
Syria and Iraq in the Trump world order
Trump intends to divide Syria with Putin the way Hitler divided Poland with Stalin—but will the US will be able to control its sphere amid social collapse and sectarian maelstrom?
Europe
‘Russian nationalists’ behind Montenegro coup plot
Montenegro's chief prosecutor accused "nationalists in Russia" of having organized a criminal group to overthrow the government during last month's elections in the Balkan country.
Greater Middle East
Syria: ‘pause’ before international storm?
Despite a "humanitarian pause" in the bombing of Aleppo, Russian air-strikes continue in the surrounding countryside—each day heightening risk of superpower confrontation.
Greater Middle East
Yemen and Syria: fearful symmetry
Russian counterinsurgency in Syria mirrors US-backed counterinsurgency in Yemen, betraying superpower rivalry and "cooperation" alike as inimical to the region's revolutions.
Iraq
More US troops to Iraq —on whose side?
The Pentagon will send 600 additional troops to Iraq to help in the offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS—but it is unclear if they will be backing Shi'ite, Sunni or Kurdish forces.
Greater Middle East
Global day of ‘Rage for Aleppo’
Protests are reported from more than 30 cities across the world as part of a global day of "Rage for Aleppo" to oppose the siege and bombardment of Syria's largest city.
Greater Middle East
Syria: hideous escalation fruit of bogus ‘ceasefire’
Two weeks after the Syrian "ceasefire," Aleppo is under intense bombardment and 2 million are without water in the besieged city—portending a massive death toll.
Greater Middle East
Syria: ‘peace deal’ signals escalation… of course
The announced new cooperation between imperial rivals the US, Russia and Turkey can only mean a betrayal of the Rojava Kurds and and other democratic forces in Syria.
Central Asia
Uzbekistan’s late despot hailed by Russia and West
It is telling that Islam Karimov, the murderous dictator of Uzbekistan, is hailed upon his death as an ally in the war on terrorism by both Washington and Moscow.
Greater Middle East
Syria: reject Arab-Kurdish ethnic war
The Turkish intervention in northern Syria has set off open war between Free Syrian Army factions and the Rojava Kurds—which only serves the interests of ISIS and Assad.