Ukraine's Odessa Oblast, home to, yes, that's right, Odessa, Ukraine's third-largest city and most important seaport now that Crimea is in Russian hands, is a region of great concern to Kiev. As you can imagine, it's of great strategic value both to Kiev and to those who might be looking to establish a separate Russian … Continue reading Ukraine’s newest citizen used to be President of Georgia

In my latest piece for LobeLog, I look at the comprehensive failure of the Saudi-led intervention (call it "Operation Decisive Edge," or "Operation Restoring Hope," or both, or neither -- it's all been one big mess) into Yemen, and wonders how much longer the US plans to keep supporting this catastrophe: In the meantime, the … Continue reading My latest at LobeLog: how much longer will the US back Saudi Arabia’s play in Yemen?

There was a report last week by Alaa Latif from the Iraq-focused news site NIQASH to the effect that some Kurds in Iraq, confronted by Islamic extremism in the form of ISIS and experiencing a resurgence of Kurdish nationalism, may be converting to Zoroastrianism. The numbers are unknown and probably not huge, but this is … Continue reading Is ISIS driving people to Zoroastrianism?

ISIS has apparently captured Soran Azaz, in the northern part of Aleppo Province, from a rebel coalition called the Levant Front or Jabhat al-Shamiyah. This puts them in a position to threaten the city of Azaz, only a few miles away, which (if they succeed) would cut one of the main supply lines from Turkey … Continue reading Ominous development in Syria as ISIS advances near Aleppo

I suppose it was easy to see where this Dennis Hastert story was going, but actually watching it get there was still disturbing. I don't know how Illinois law works but it's entirely possible that we're now past the statute of limitations to prosecute Hastert for any crime he may have committed back in the … Continue reading Always assume the worst and you’ll never be disappointed

I hope something good comes out of the FIFA indictments, I really do. It's a very powerful and by all appearances very corrupt institution, and the people who run those kinds of institutions should be brought to justice. Dan Drezner contends this is the best foreign policy move the US has made this year, and … Continue reading The FIFA indictments: already too late for too many

For a long time now we've been hearing about how Barack Obama pals around with terrorists, am I right fellow US Americans? The brethren have been so convinced of this one immutable fact that they've convinced themselves that Obama is in cahoots with every terrorist group or potential terrorist sponsor under the sun, despite the … Continue reading Is Qassem Soleimani forming his own Tea Party chapter?

Jabhat al-Nusra's emir, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, gave an interview to Al Jazeera yesterday that seems to have been intended to put the best possible face on his Al-Qaeda franchise for a secular/Western audience. Most of it was transparently bullshit though, and by digging through the bullshit you can see the clear reasons why nobody -- … Continue reading Nusra’s Julani: “I get so scared in case I fall off my chair”