Category Archives: Uncategorized

Erdogan’s Bait and Switch in Northern Syria

Jerusalem Post, 31/7 The latest events in northern Syria constitute a bold move by the Turkish leadership to deal with a most pressing problem, from their point of view. That problem is not the continued existence of the Assad regime, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Lecture in Jerusalem, 23/7

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Opening the ‘gates of evil’

Sunni Arabs see deal as facilitating further Iranian regional subversion, confirming US withdrawal from the Middle East Jerusalem Post, 18/7 The response in the Arabic-speaking world to the conclusion of a deal between the P5+1 countries and the Islamic Republic … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Coming of age in Sinai

Jerusalem Post, 10/7 The Sinai-based Islamic State affiliate Wilayat al-Sina (Sinai Province) claimed responsibility for the firing of three Grad rockets at Israel on July 3. This attack, which caused no casualties, came closely after a large-scale assault by the group against … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Ghosts of Old Baghdad

Jerusalem Report, 8/7 A few hours in the Shorja open market in Baghdad can teach you a lot – about the Middle East’s past, its present and its apparent future. What’s to be found there is informative. What is absent – equally so. My … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Iraq falls apart as Iran-backed forces keep Islamic State at bay

The Australian, 4/7 Baghdad in the early summer has the atmosphere of a city under siege. Armoured vehicles carrying heavy machineguns are patrolling the area surrounding the international airport. The nearest positions of Islamic State are just 65km away. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

John Le Carre and the Last of Empire

The British novelist  David Cornwell  (John Le Carre) is best known for his fictional depictions of the British intelligence services during the period of the Cold War.  That this constitutes the main focus of Le Carre’s considerable prominence is probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Turkey’s Syrian Kurdish problem

Jerusalem Post, 3/7 Syrian Kurdish forces this week succeeded in turning back a murderous and determined attempt by the forces of Islamic State to claw back control of areas of northern Syria recently liberated by the Kurds. The cost was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

RIP Keith Broomfield, Killed in a Firefight with ISIS

PJmedia, 19/6 Keith Broomfield, of Westminster, Massachusetts, was born in 1979 and buried this week. He was 36. Keith was killed in a firefight on June 3rd with the Islamic State organization near the town of Kobani in northern Syria. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Fall of Eagles: the Eclipse of the Arab Nationalist State

Tower Magazine, June 2015. The most significant dynamic in the Middle East over the last decade has been the collapse of strong, centralized regimes in a series of Arab states and their replacement by chaos, civil war, and the proliferation … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment