SYRIA Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters earlier this week that the US-Turkish agreement over the Syrian town of Manbij is "not completely dead," which is good news, I guess? The agreement calls for joint Turkish-US military patrols around Manbij but those haven't started yet. The Turks also seem to think it calls for joint … Continue reading Middle East update: October 11 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA Finnish media is reporting that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin may meet in Helsinki again next spring. Hey, it was so much fun the first time around, why not? ROMANIA Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor warned at a conference on Wednesday that Russia "is using the Black Sea to project force in the eastern … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: October 10 2018

ASIA ARMENIA Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says he'll be tendering his resignation in the next few days, by October 16, with an eye toward holding a snap election in early-mid December. Pashinyan finally seems to have enough parliamentary support to call for a new election, which he's expecting will break the power of Armenia's … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: October 10 2018

ISIS RAND political scientist Colin Clarke argues that despite losing most of its territory, plus the natural resources and tax base that went with it, ISIS is doing OK financially. Its leaders allegedly smuggled hundreds of millions of dollars out of Syria and Iraq before the hammer really came down, its expenses are now pretty … Continue reading Middle East update: October 10 2018

CLIMATE CHANGE A new report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that we're all careening very rapidly toward disaster: On Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a daunting report, suggesting that we are currently on track for around 3 degrees Celsius of warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The IPCC … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: October 9 2018

ASIA ARMENIA Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has managed to convince the leader of a small party called Prosperous Armenia, plus several individual members of the opposition Republican Party, to agree to hold a snap election in December. This gives Pashinyan the election he's wanted in order to build a genuine parliamentary majority and eases what … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: October 9 2018

SYRIA Bashar al-Assad called the Russia-Turkey arrangement in Idlib province "temporary" at a Baath Party function over the weekend, which is probably news to Turkey and its rebel proxies and may even be news to Russia (though probably not). That kind of remark is probably not going to encourage the rebels in Idlib, who have … Continue reading Middle East update: October 9 2018

attwiw is taking the long weekend off, so these will be our last updates until Tuesday. Thanks for reading! ASIA AFGHANISTAN At least five Afghan civilians were killed Thursday in three separate and so far unclaimed bombings--one in Kandahar province, one in Nangarhar province, and the third in Kabul. US officials announced on Thursday that … Continue reading World update: October 4 2018

attwiw is taking the long weekend off, so these will be our last updates until Tuesday. Thanks for reading! SYRIA The US is very miffed at Russia for selling its S-300 air defense system to the Syrian government. General Joseph Votel, the head of Central Command, referred to the sale as a "needless escalation" that … Continue reading Middle East update: October 4 2018