We're a couple of days into the new phase of Turkey's "war on terror," and so far it looks pretty much like the old phase, where the Turks offer nominal lip-service about opposing ISIS but focus their energy, and ordinance, almost exclusively on the Kurds. Turkey's air force has allegedly flown hundreds of sorties against … Continue reading Should’ve checked the fine print

In a result that surprised nobody who's been paying any attention, Burundi's incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza officially won his third term in office today, as Burundi's electoral commission announced the results of Tuesday's election. The election was boycotted by opposition candidates, so the result was a foregone conclusion. Nkurunziza is now getting heat from international … Continue reading In Burundi, all’s well that ends (?) well, or something

The Wall Street Journal, in what appears to be quite a Friday News Dump, is reporting that the Obama administration is looking to release convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. They say it's possible that his release could come in a matter of weeks, but it's far more likely that he'll be released in November, when … Continue reading Trying to make Bibi happy

Let me start with a disclaimer: I haven't liked Martin O'Malley since I figured out who this Tommy Carcetti guy was (I was years late watching The Wire, sue me), and seeing the legacy of his term as Baltimore mayor engulf that city earlier this year didn't improve my impression of him. But no matter … Continue reading Martin O’Malley is right about ISIS, and we ignore that at our peril

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