(Turkey deploys battle tanks on border with Syria.) Trump’s tweets earlier today regarding Syrian withdrawal plan came out of the blue – “Starting the long overdue pullout from Syria while hitting the little remaining ISIS territorial caliphate hard, and from many directions. Will attack again from existing nearby base if it reforms. Will devastate Turkey …
Continue reading “Trump has mixed signals for Astana partners”
(Stalingrad of Syrian war: ancient Syrian city of Raqqa after US bombing) On December 17, Ankara was notified of President Trump’s decision on troop withdrawal from Syria. During an earlier phone conversation between him and President Recep Erdogan on Dec 14, Trump had pointedly asked and elicited a positive response from the Turkish leader as …
(Lockheed Martin’s THAAD Missile System) Saudi Arabia has inked the deal, finally, after nearly two years of discussions to buy Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system. The massive$15 billion deal involves Saudi Arabia buying 44 THAAD launchers, missiles and related equipment. The Trump administration had vigorously canvassed for the arms deal, …
The US midterm results are out. In a nutshell, Republicans retain majority in the Senate, while Democrats have seized control of the House of Representatives after a gap of 8 years. On balance, the midterm results constitute a setback for President Donald Trump insofar as while Senate confirmations for his executive and judicial appointments will …
Continue reading “Trump’s unchecked hold on power comes to an end”
(Taliban heads for peace talks) Many a slip between the cup and the lip may be possible when it comes to the Afghan peacemaking, but with the caveat added, prospects for the second Moscow conference on Afghanistan slated for coming Friday have significantly improved with the expected participation by officials of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council …
Continue reading “India has historic role in Moscow format on Afghanistan”
The new kids on the block are unaware that not a year had passed since the Islamic Revolution in Iran 40 years ago when US sanctions against that country wasn’t a fact of life. Iran has weathered multiple rounds of sanctions before. As a BBC commentary put it, “Iranians will be forced into finding creative …
Within hours of the announcement on Saturday by the Russian Foreign Ministry that the second meeting of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan will take place on November 9, the US government-funded Radio Free Europe and Liberty has announced that the Afghan government will not participate in the forthcoming meeting. The text of the …
This weekend held out surprises on two counts. One, the spectre of a US-China New Cold War met sudden death as President Trump phoned President Xi Jinping on Thursday to turn the clock back to happier times. Trump openly sought to end the trade war and to mend fences with China. As a realist, he …
Continue reading “Modi buries India’s ‘unipolar predicament’”
The four-nation Turkey-Russia-Germany-France summit on Syria on October 27 in Istanbul had an impressive outcome. All participants – each with own interests – has some ‘takeaway’ from the summit, which itself is a measure of the success of the event. This is also important because the participants now have a reason to work together. …
Continue reading “Istanbul summit on Syria was successful but caveats remain”
(Mikhail Gorbachev & Ronald Reagan signing INF treaty, Washington, December 8, 1987) President Donald Trump’s confirmation that the US is terminating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) with Russia will be regarded as a defining moment in international security. The INF, which was signed by then US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev …
Continue reading “What Trump’s pullout from INF treaty means”
