Reserving the right to pop back up if something major happens, and of course barring some kind of unforeseen problem on the back end, this is going to be our last set of updates until Monday, November 27. Thanksgiving is going to be extra challenging this year for a myriad of family reasons, and so … Continue reading World update: November 18-19 2017

Reserving the right to pop back up if something major happens, and of course barring some kind of unforeseen problem on the back end, this is going to be our last set of updates until Monday, November 27. Thanksgiving is going to be extra challenging this year for a myriad of family reasons, and so … Continue reading Middle East update: November 18-19 2017

EUROPE RUSSIA The Atlantic Council has compiled a list of European political parties believed to be in cahoots with Vladimir Putin in his evil plan to irradiate all the gold in Fort Knox steal hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bearer bonds from the main vault in Nakatomi Plaza send an unstoppable cyborg back … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: November 16-17 2017

ASIA CAUCASUS Under the radar, there seems to have been a bit of recent progress in peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh: With relative quiet continuing on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Line of Contact, bilateral negotiations were set to resume a full month after Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev held talks in Geneva, Switzerland, described as “constructive” … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: November 16-17 2017

SYRIA At least 20 people were killed Friday in an ISIS car bombing near Deir Ezzor. To the west, continued fighting in Damascus's Ghouta suburb has killed nearly 30 people this week. Another five civilians were killed on Friday, at least three of them by rebel artillery fire. The possibility of new fighting in northwestern … Continue reading Middle East update: November 16-17 2017

ASIA UZBEKISTAN/CENTRAL ASIA Svante Cornell at The Diplomat hits back at the narrative of Central Asian radicalization by noting, for those who still don't get it, that most Central Asian terrorists seem clearly to have been radicalized after they left Central Asia: Both in Europe and the United States, this argument is made with increasing frequency. Fingers … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: November 15 2017

It's a bit of an odd day for the blog in that there was huge news from Africa and comparatively not so much news from the Middle East, so I've rejiggered our regular format to try to keep everything at a reasonable length. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA There's been considerable fighting over the past two days … Continue reading Middle East/Europe/Americas update: November 15 2017

Another short one today, both because I'm trying to recharge a bit and because I won't be able to write this evening. Back to normal tomorrow. MIDDLE EAST IRAQ Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his government "will take action" to regain control of Iraq's entire border, if it can't reach some kind of accommodation … Continue reading World update: November 14 2017

It's going to be a busy couple of days here at attwiw HQ, so you're going to have to make due with an abbreviated roundup today and possibly nothing tomorrow though I'll see what I can do. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA At least 47 civilians have reportedly been killed in an airstrike on the town of … Continue reading World update: November 13 2017

ASIA AFGHANISTAN Concern is mounting in Afghanistan over the Fatemiyoun Division, an Iranian-created force made up of Afghan Shiʿa currently fighting in Syria (and allegedly Yemen). Afghan officials fear that Iran may reorganize veterans of that force once they're back in Afghanistan, both to serve as an Iranian proxy and for the protection of Afghanistan's … Continue reading World update: November 11-12 2017