The Bahrain conference and the 'Deal of the Century'
The United States is holding an international conference – in reality an economic workshop – in Bahrain on June 25-26 to launch the Middle East peace plan by encouraging investment and economic promises in the Palestinian territory.
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How will Iran play its hand?
A few weeks ago, this column detailed how, in the last two decades, U.S. administrations have periodically made war plans and debated conflict scenarios. Both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations did it, and now the Donald Trump administration has come to a similar point of deliberating a military response against Iran.
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Turkey has a very busy agenda ahead of itself for the month of June..
Within the framework of a shift in global economic gravity, Chinese assertiveness and political-military vision regarding East Asia is creating heated debates with U.S. representatives at international summits
Tensions between the United States and Iran swing like a pendulum between confrontation and negotiation.
President Donald Trump's administration is increasing its pressure on Iran...
US investing too much power in the Middle East
The U.S. is concentrating too much on the Middle East, which may cost it dearly; it has already issues such as the trade war with China, the Venezuelan crisis and Russia's increasing global effectiveness to handle
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Trump's controversial foreign policy will backfire
The Donald Trump administration continues to use American power crudely every day. Washington not only continues to dismantle the post-World War II liberal order, an American creation, but has also imposed its unilateral national interest on the international arena and its actors.
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The Trump administration is using sanctions, mostly economic sanctions, more aggressively compared to earlier administrations. Last summer, Washington imposed national security sanctions on Turkish steel and aluminum due to the detention of pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey.
Debates and discussions regarding Iran have spanned years in Washington. From the "axis of evil" to "Sunni-Shiite equilibrium" and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to the "maximum pressure" campaign, there have been a variety of different positions and policies offered by the last three administrations in the White House.
In a quest to assure stability in the region, Turkey has to find new, more active, regional partners and maintain its opposition against the unilateral policies of foreign players
The U.S. announced Monday it will not renew special waivers that allowed eight countries, including Turkey, to import Iranian oil without violating renewed sanctions.
The Trump administration continues to violate the basic principles of the international order established by the U.S. itself after World War II because the system no longer serves its interests. Rising global and regional powers, such as India, Indonesia and especially China, are the main beneficiaries of the continuation of the current system. The U.S. has been pursuing paradoxical policies, especially for the last decade.
New developments fuel tensions between Washington and Ankara. Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's promises to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the phone, no problem has yet gone away. Quite the contrary, the foreign policy establishment and Congress continue to try and undermine bilateral relations.
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.
Washington's move to pressure Turkey on the S-400 deal by talking about its NATO membership is not only a serious mistake but also damaging NATO itself
What is the context of the decision? What does this decision mean for Israel and for Netanyahu? What are the possible implications of the decision?
All eyes in Turkey are set on this month's municipal elections, yet a significant transformation is underway in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump, whose Jerusalem move drew ire, recognized Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights in a radical overhaul of U.S. foreign policy.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump took yet another step to legitimize Israeli expansionism after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital last year. 'After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the state of Israel and regional stability', Trump tweeted. Governments around the world reacted harshly to that decision.
With the U.S. warning of its withdrawal from the Middle East, the new balance of power in the world has begun to be established. The rapprochement between authoritarian Arab regimes and Europe alongside Saudi Arabia's search for convergence with Asian powers are just the consequences of it
