Eastern Europe

(48Hills.org ) – On June 26, in a major front page story, The New York Times wrote that Russia paid a bounty to the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan last year. The story quickly unraveled. While the military is investigating the allegations, Mark Miley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says there’s […]

Afghanistan

Trump Likely did Throw US Troops in Afghanistan under the Bus, but Why would the Russians have Targeted Them?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Charlie Savage; Eric Schmitt and Michael Schwirtz at the New York Times broke the blockbuster story on Friday that GRU 29155, a violent unit of Russian military intelligence accused of poisoning a double agent in Britain in 2018, had offered militants and criminals a bounty if they killed coalition forces […]

China

The Final Defeat of the John Bolton Hawks? How Russia and China could humiliate Trump on Eve of Election by Lifting Iran Arms Embargo

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump is about to go up against China and Russia at the United Nations Security Council over the looming end to the UNSC arms embargo on Iran, and is facing a humiliating defeat that will further harm the US standing in global affairs. The 2015 Joint Plan for Collective Action […]

Donald Trump

Will Trump Follow through? US Congress’ ‘Caesar Act’ Sanctions Russian, Syrian, Iranian Officials over Torture, War Crimes

Lauren Lewis

( Middle East Monitor) – On this day, 17 June 2020, America’s Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (also known as the Caesar Act) takes effect. The act, which was passed by the US Senate in December 2019, requires the US President to impose sanctions on members and allies of the Syrian regime, including […]

Constitution

Could America’s Covid and Race Crises Weaken the Union the way Chernobyl Broke up the USSR?

Matthew Lenoe

Rochester, NY (Special to Informed Comment) – An unforeseen health disaster with rapidly propagating domestic and international consequences strikes a superpower already wallowing in heavy seas. Overwhelmed by the surge, the ship of state floods, and begins to break up. The nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl in April 1986, and the subsequent disintegration of the USSR […]

Libya

Libya: Is the Russia-Turkey Conflict Heightening over Oil-Rich Sirte?

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – The Libya’s civil war intensifies as Russia and Turkey are expected to negotiate the fate of strategically important coastal city of Sirte. The control of the oil rich province, as well as Jufra airbase, seems to be a top priority for both, Moscow and Ankara. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip […]

Donald Trump

Eyeing Iran as Weapons Market, Russia shoots down as “Ridiculous” Trump’s demand for Arms Embargo on Tehran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Neoconservative wing of the Trump administration, which is dying to drag the United States into a war with Iran, suffered an embarrassing setback on Monday when its latest flimsy scheme crashed and burned. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called Washington’s scheme “ridiculous and irresponsible,” according to AP While the […]

Libya

The Turko-Russian War for Oil and Gas in Libya Intensifies

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – Frenemies Russia and Turkey have put their conflict in Syria on hold, but they have intensified their rivalry in another proxy conflict. In Libya, clashes between Moscow-backed Libyan National Army (LNA) and Ankara-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) escalated, as the US Africa Command accused Kremlin of deploying military […]

Bashar al-Assad

Is Russia set to abandon its ally, Syria’s al-Assad?

Nikola Mikovic

Rumors are flying that Russia may be trying to topple Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad, or at least to force him to accept a new constitution that would significantly limit his power. Moscow unexpectedly started criticizing its only ally in the Middle East, which has raised questions on the future of Russia’s involvement in the Syrian […]