Turkey's decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defense system has become a major sticking point with the U.S. While Turkey attaches great importance to procuring the air defense system, U.S. policymakers, who consider Turkey's decision a complete deviation from its traditional alliance system, have begun to threaten the country.

While many focus nowadays on the S-400/F-35 tensions taking place in Turkish-American relations, another issue, namely Syria, is being discussed at the highest levels among officials from the two countries. For the last eight years, the divergence of policies in regards to the crisis in Syria has become one of the most significant irritants in bilateral relations.

Turkish-American relations are strained again ahead of the delivery of S-400 air defense systems from Russia. In their Moscow meeting at the beginning of the week, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the plan to deliver the first set of S-400 air defense systems to Turkey in early July.

The Middle East has been experiencing turmoil since the Arab Spring uprisings and revolutions. A process of counterrevolution started with the military coup in Egypt in 2013. Much of the regional mayhem stems from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi-led efforts to reverse the democratization process initiated with the Arab uprisings and discourage any popular demands.

When the French and the British carved up the Middle East, the Golan Heights was part of the French mandate. It was not part of the Palestinian territories, where the Israelis claimed their authority. And after the mandate was abolished for the current nation-states, the Golan Heights was naturally left for Syria.

In the last few years, it has become commonplace to question the future of the alliance between Turkey and the U.S. Some pundits emphasized the various disagreements between the two countries to indicate that the alliance has weakened and does not have the same strategic weight it used to have in previous decades.

Turkish and American officials are actively working to coordinate the status of eastern Syria after the withdrawal of American troops. President Donald Trump previously announced the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria.

The most recent regional crisis erupted in South Asia after the Indian Air Force crossed into Pakistani air space in order to hit Kashmiri armed groups. The story of the crisis goes back to the end of British colonialism in the subcontinent.

The United States is revising its decision to exit Syria. Washington initially hoped to complete the withdrawal by April or, at the latest, the summer months. Yet the White House announced last week that 200 U.S. troops would remain on the ground for an unspecified amount of time to promote peace.

On the condition that both sides engage in sincere negotiations, Ankara-Washington relations can easily get back on track again in a very short period of time

The U.S. withdrawal from Syria is turning into a major debacle. Washington's superpower status enables it to exploit the disequilibrium in military might to invade other nations..

Neoliberal consensus has dissolved across Europe over the past 10 years..

U.S. President Donald Trump is eager to declare victory against Daesh, yet his military commanders express concerns that the terrorist defeat might be short-lived.

In fact, potential cooperation between China and Russia is mentioned as one of the significant threats for U.S. foreign policy. Of course this is the perspective of the U.S. and it is possible to read most of the decisions given by the U.S. administrations in the last few years in accordance with this changing threat assessment and perception.

At the Sochi summit, Erdoğan, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, reiterated their commitment to work together in finding a solution to the Syrian conflict.

Two meetings took place earlier this week in Warsaw and Sochi that were crucial for the future of the Middle East.

As the era of optimism for a liberal international order and responsible stakeholders looks like a thing of the past, U.S. policymakers are attempting to adapt their policies — but with little success so far