Turkish "sources" told the Hürriyet Daily News that the deal giving the US and its coalition partners the right to use Incirlik Air Base to stage manned sorties against ISIS in Syria (they were already allowed to use it for unmanned missions) includes an agreement with the US to establish a relatively small safe zone … Continue reading The price of Turkey’s involvement against ISIS

With the Iran deal done and (probably) about to get through legislative challenges both in the US and in Iran, it's worth really thinking about what potential problems may crop up as the deal is implemented and maintained. While John Kerry is probably right that people who think there was a better deal to be … Continue reading Predicting where the Iran deal could break down, at LobeLog

Earlier today, ISIS fighters reportedly attacked a Turkish border post in Kilis, killing two Turkish soldier and drawing return fire that killed at least one ISIS member. This, combined with Monday's terrorist bombing of a pro-Kurdish rally in the Turkish town of Suruç, which is being blamed on ISIS, seems like it may have made … Continue reading Turkey may be joining the ISIS fight for real

Juan Cole makes an excellent point here: while people (like me) are excited about the very early folios of Qurʾan text that were recently discovered in Birmingham, some of the oldest more complete manuscripts of the Qurʾan are sitting in the Sanaa Manuscript Library and therefore are at risk of being blown to smithereens at … Continue reading In Yemen, other very early Qurʾans are in danger of being destroyed

The Democratic Party has many problems, to be sure. It's gerrymandered out of winning control of the House anytime soon. It struggles to get a big part of its base to turn out in mid-term elections, let alone off-year elections, which means it struggles to hold on to the Senate and is utterly out to … Continue reading Aren’t all voters “real”?

If you've noticed an uptick in mutual badmouthing between Washington and Tehran since the nuclear deal was concluded, you're not imagining things. I'll let Slate's Josh Keating explain: Over the weekend Secretary of State John Kerry expressed concern that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had declared his country still “180 degrees” opposed to U.S. policies in … Continue reading Just don’t get carried away

Here's a little "this day in Middle East history" combined with an Arabic lesson, if you're interested. Construction on the Aswan Dam started in 1960 and was one of Gamal Abdel Nasser's great plans for the modernization/industrialization of Egypt. Built with Soviet aid (the US and UK both withdrew their support over Nasser's neutrality and, … Continue reading In the (very old) news: the Aswan Dam

These people belong in a Bravo reality show, not running for president: If Lindsey Graham has to change cellphone numbers, he has Donald Trump to thank. On Tuesday, Trump ramped up his attacks on the South Carolina senator — who made headlines Monday for calling the Donald a “jackass” — and even gave out Graham’s … Continue reading Call it “Real Candidates of the Republican Party”