SYRIA Syrian state media reported late on Thursday that the Syrian military "confronted a hostile target and destroyed it west of Damascus." This is a developing story and so far that's all the information that's been reported. The effects of the Syrian civil war have never stayed well confined within Syria, but they spilled over … Continue reading Middle East update: August 2 2018

ASIA GEORGIA The Georgian military opened its Noble Partner 2018 exercises with soldiers from the United States and several other NATO members on Wednesday. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili took the opportunity to slam Russia for continuing to occupy the breakaway region of South Ossetia and support the breakaway region of Abkhazia, both of which Georgia still considers … Continue reading World update: August 1 2018

SYRIA The final deal that the Syrian government struck with ISIS fighters in the Yarmouk Basin seems to have involved the evacuation of as many as 1500 of them to the eastern Syrian desert, presumably to areas where ISIS still has a presence. Meanwhile, the group continues to transition into its next life as a … Continue reading Middle East update: August 1 2018

ASIA TAJIKISTAN Although ISIS has already claimed responsibility for Sunday's car attack that killed four cyclists in Tajikistan, the Tajik government is blaming the outlawed Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, which it labeled a terrorist organization in 2015 even though nobody is quite sure what acts of terrorism it's actually committed. Obviously the immediate aftermath of … Continue reading World update: July 31 2018

SYRIA According to the Syrian Observatory, pro government forces on Tuesday took control of the entire Yarmouk Basin enclave that had previously been controlled by ISIS's Khalid ibn al-Walid Army affiliate. That brings all of Daraa province, where the 2011 Arab Spring protests began, under government control. It's unclear what happened to the estimated 20 women and … Continue reading Middle East update: July 31 2018

EUROPE REPUBLIC OF NORTH (?) MACEDONIA The Republic of North (?) Macedonia will hold a referendum on its proposed name change on September 30, at which point maybe I'll be able to take the "(?)" out of their name every time I write about them. Cleverly, the Macedonian government has framed the question as one … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: July 30 2018

ASIA Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Indo-Pacific Business Forum on Monday that the United States is prepared to shell out a whole $113 million for infrastructure projects across the Indo-Pacific region. If you're looking for a simple explanation as to why China's Belt and Road Initiative is so popular despite the fact that … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: July 30 2018

SYRIA According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, pro-government forces have retaken all but three villages from ISIS's Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid affiliate in its pocket in southern Daraa province. They constitute the only parts of southwestern Syria still outside Damascus's control. Assad's focus will now probably shift to the northwest, to Idlib province … Continue reading Middle East update: July 30 2018

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Attackers stormed a midwife training center in the city of Jalalabad on Saturday, killing at least three of its employees and wounding several other people before themselves being killed during a more than six hour battle with police. ISIS later claimed responsibility. That US meeting with Taliban representatives in Doha a few days … Continue reading World update: July 28-29 2018

ARAB NATO Juan Cole has some thoughts about European NATO-hater Donald Trump's plans to contrive an Arab NATO despite the fact that some of its potential members don't really like one another very much: So here are the problems with this Arab NATO. First, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar won’t be interested in taking a public … Continue reading Middle East update: July 28-29 2018