Erdogan’s Idlib misadventure: Reality checks and hard lessons for Turkey

3 Apr 20204 Apr 2020

Posted originally to MintPress News on 3 April 2020. Even when viewed through the prism of Turkish interests, President Tayyib Erdogan’s escalatory actions in Syria’s Idlib governorate constitute now plainly…

The New Contours of the Power Struggle for Syria’s Future – Three Part Series for MintPress News

3 Mar 202013 Mar 2020

Part one: Wealthy Gulf States Plan Big To Coax Syria Away from Iran Part two: Russia and Iran's Clashing Views for Syria's Future Part three: How a Subtle Turkey-Iran Entente…

Pakistan: A candidate for supporting the ‘Deal of the Century’?

27 Jan 202010 Feb 2020

Posted originally to Express Tribune Blogs on 27 January 2019. While difficult to predict how Pakistan would react, the scenario where it is deemed suitable by the makers of the…

Emerging Turko-Israeli Rift Helps Turkey-Iran Entente

23 Jan 202027 Jan 2020

Posted originally to Islamabad Policy Institute on 23 January 2020. Israel has long possessed a capacity to force, whether by design or by consequence, the upending of regional alignment dynamics…

Lessons in tenacity: Why Pakistan should learn from Turkey

4 Jan 202017 Jan 2020

Posted originally to The Express Tribune on 4 January 2020. When faced with the seemingly unyielding support of its ostensible NATO ‘partners’ for Kurdish secessionists in the Syrian-Turkish border regions,…

Saudi fragility makes Imran’s volte-face on Malaysia Summit more embarrassing

21 Dec 20193 Jan 2020

Posted originally to Express Tribune blogs on 21 December 2019. The flawed gains-and-losses calculus of Imran Khan’s PTI government recently produced what may well be the most aberrational and peculiar…

Pakistan & the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019

14 Dec 201928 Mar 2020

Co-authored with Mobeen Jafar Mir for Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI) on 13 December 2019. The upcoming ‘Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019’ going to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre…

The Israel Lobby’s Hidden Hand in the Theft of Iraqi and Syrian Oil

11 Dec 201911 Dec 2019

By Agha Hussain and Whitney Webb, for MintPress News, posted on 10 December 2019. KIRKUK, IRAQ — “We want to bring our soldiers home. But we did leave soldiers because we’re…

Netanyahu’s Election Loss: Reasons and Regional Consequences

22 Oct 201925 Oct 2019

Posted originally as an issue brief to Islamabad Policy Institute on 19 September 2019. Benjamin Netanyahu’s 10-year continuous stint at Israeli Prime Minister is coming to an end, with his…