Syrian state media is claiming that government forces have now fully cut off the last road into and out of Aleppo, the Castello Road, tightening the government's siege of rebel-held parts of the city. The most recent blow to the rebels' chances of keeping that corridor open a sliver, or of widening it again, reportedly … Continue reading Aleppo besieged: some quick thoughts
Author: DWD
writer, blogger, lover, fighter
Today in Middle Eastern/European history: the Ottomans get started (1299, or 1302)
Yemen’s next civil war, if there is one, will be a rerun 20+ years in the making
At Muftah.org, Thanos Petouris writes about one of the aspects of Yemen's current civil war that has gone underreported, the issue of southern separatism: A case in point is the Southern Movement (al-Hirak al-Janubi), which purports to represent the southern provinces of Yemen that were part of the former socialist People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen … Continue reading Yemen’s next civil war, if there is one, will be a rerun 20+ years in the making
Terror attacks, and how we Americans approach them
A Syrian refugee who was reportedly denied asylum and was about to be deported detonated a backpack bomb outside of a crowded festival in Ansbach, Germany, yesterday evening. Fortunately it appears that only the terrorist was killed, but 15 others were reportedly injured in the blast--he was apparently denied entry into the festival before he … Continue reading Terror attacks, and how we Americans approach them
ISIS bombing kills 80+ in Kabul
ISIS bombers strike a Hazara protest in Kabul, killing more than 80 people. I discuss that and also explain a bit about who the Hazaras are.
Munich update
The 18 year old boy who murdered nine people in Munich yesterday does not seem to have had any ties to nor to have drawn any inspiration from any jihadi terror groups like al-Qaeda or ISIS. If anything, he may have drawn inspiration from the Anders Breivik case, though that connection is still mostly speculation … Continue reading Munich update
Today in European history: the Siege of Belgrade ends (1456)
Mehmed II earned the epithet Fatih or “the Conqueror” when he captured Constantinople in 1453, and it’s lucky for him that he did, really. If he didn’t already have a slick nickname by the time of his failed effort to capture Belgrade, I can imagine he might have been saddled with a much less flattering one instead. … Continue reading Today in European history: the Siege of Belgrade ends (1456)
Hitting what we aim at
As you may recall, three weeks ago the Obama administration declared that it did the math and its airstrikes in "non-war zones" like Yemen and Pakistan have only killed between 64 and 116 civilians since 2009. That this figure is considerably lower than any independent estimate apparently didn't give the White House any pause. Trust … Continue reading Hitting what we aim at
Today in European History: the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774)
The Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) marked the end of the Ottoman Empire’s tenure as the heavyweight military power in Eastern Europe. Then passed several decades where the Ottomans won some, probably lost more, but still sort of held their own. But the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, signed on this date in 1774, marked the point where European … Continue reading Today in European History: the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Ankara (1402)
July 20, 1402: the Central Asian conqueror Timur defeats the young Ottoman Empire so decisively that the Ottomans are thrown into chaos for the next 11 years.
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 