SYRIA Iraqi warplanes bombed two alleged ISIS positions near the Syrian town of Susah on Tuesday, potentially (according to the Iraqis) targeting upwards of 45 ISIS fighters across both targets. Susah is located a bit south of Hajin along the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, not far from the Iraqi border. It's unclear whether … Continue reading Middle East update: December 11 2018

EUROPE RUSSIA The Trump administration renewed its objection to Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea on Monday, with Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis Fannon arguing that it will give Moscow additional leverage over Western Europe while bypassing and isolating Ukraine. The Ukrainian economy is partially dependent on the … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: December 10 2018

UNITED NATIONS ASIA https://twitter.com/UN/status/1072296406562484224 The UN on Monday adopted the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, absent 29 countries who have decided to reject the accord or are debating whether to reject it. It's rare that an international treaty like this generates so much drama, but such is the power of racism I … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: December 10 2018

SYRIA The Syrian military announced on Monday that it's going to demobilize conscripts and reserves who have completed five years of military service in the civil war (in the case of conscripts, that means five years beyond their mandatory 18 months of service). This reflects quite a turnaround for the Syrian government, which was so short … Continue reading Middle East update: December 10 2018

ASIA ARMENIA As expected, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's One Step Alliance won a resounding victory in Sunday's Armenian parliamentary election. One Step reportedly came away with over 70 percent of the vote, albeit with relatively low (around 49 percent) turnout. Election observers have yet to weigh in on any potential irregularities. AFGHANISTAN Taliban fighters attacked a … Continue reading World update: December 8-9 2018

SYRIA Syrian state media reported Sunday that Syrian air defenses had intercepted "enemy targets" near Damascus airport. Wow, this is a big stor--I'm sorry, what's that? They retracted the report? Oh, well, never mind then. The Trump administration has reportedly come to believe that it has enough leverage to force Russia and Iran to in … Continue reading Middle East update: December 8-9 2018

ASIA ARMENIA Armenian voters will get to vote on Sunday in the country's first national election since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's "Velvet Revolution" upended Armenian politics earlier this year. Pashinyan has been governing without a stable majority since then, though that's expected to change after Sunday when his My Step party is expected to pull … Continue reading World update: December 7 2018

SYRIA Both the US State Department and the British Foreign Office are now accusing the Syrian government and Russia of carrying out last month's apparent chlorine gas attack in western Aleppo in order to frame rebels. The goal, according to this scenario, was to undermine the Idlib ceasefire agreement. The one that, uh, Russia negotiated … Continue reading Middle East update: December 7 2018

EUROPE Hey, you know how we sometimes talk around here about the possibility that European governments will get so sick of extra-territorial US sanctions that they'll start thinking about dumping the dollar as the international reserve currency? Well, uh, check this out: Plans to reduce European Union dependence on the US dollar – and so … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: December 5-6 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Taliban fighters killed at least four people, three of them civilians, in a raid on a police checkpoint in Herat province late Tuesday. Insurgents, either Taliban or ISIS, also kidnapped the head of a local TV station in Nangarhar province, killing his driver in the process. With peace talks potentially looming, the US … Continue reading Asia/Africa: December 5-6 2018