August has not been the best of months for Russian President Vladimir Putin. His country largely excluded from the Rio Olympics — and completely barred from the Paralympics — because of a doping scandal, Putin is facing complicated challenges at home and abroad. Continued U.S. and European economic sanctions over Russia’s military intervention in the Ukraine, plus […]
“VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussion and opinion on these policies.” — VOA Charter
The Ever Tenuous Alliance Between the U.S. and Turkey
Posted August 10th, 2016 at 4:27 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed
As Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to mend fences with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the rift between Ankara and Washington seemed to widen a little more.
Turkey’s Justice Minister fired verbal a warning shot to the United States: hand over cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey claims was behind a July coup attempt, or risk sacrificing America’s relationship with its NATO ally.
Gulen has been living in self-exile in the U.S. since 1999. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau says extraditing Gulen is a “legal, technical process…governed by a 1981 extradition treaty.”
Turkey and Russia have been on opposite ends of the war in Syria, magnified in November when a Russian warplane that strayed into Turkish airspace was shot down. Now, foreign policy experts are trying to read the tea leaves from the Erdogan-Putin get together.
The Right Target for the U.S. in Syria; Hezbollah
Posted July 28th, 2016 at 11:30 am (UTC-4)
Comments are closed
President Obama has focused instead on fighting terrorism in Syria, but U.S. targets are limited to Sunni extremists such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliates. There is also a Shiite terrorist organization in Syria: Lebanon-based Hezbollah. It should not be immune.
Islamic State’s Terror Spree
Posted July 5th, 2016 at 4:25 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed
Carnage marks the end of Ramadan 2016. Attacks on the airport in Istanbul, a bakery in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a market in Baghdad and a suicide bombing in the holy city of Medina punctuated the final week of Islam’s holiest month.
Blood was shed in the name of Islam throughout Ramadan: the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando; suicide bombers at an army post in Jordan as well as in Yemen and Lebanon; the shooting of an Israeli man in a road and stabbing of a 13-year old Israeli girl while she slept in the West Bank.
Whether carried out or inspired by Islamic State or other actors, the blood-letting is unlikely to abate. And that leaves all of us to wonder what to do next.
Reconsidering Safe Zones in Syria
Posted June 22nd, 2016 at 4:10 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed
We have little choice but to return to the question of safe zones for Syria….It would not have to focus on immediate regime change, but rather…providing a safe space for moderate opposition to…rebuild civil society…If properly enforced, refugees could resettle in these protected areas and begin the process of building an alternative to Mr. Assad…
Who’s Winning the Middle East’s Cold War?
Posted June 22nd, 2016 at 3:29 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed
Iran also has an overwhelming manpower advantage, with a population of an estimated 77 million, compared to Saudi Arabia’s 28 million. And while its army is far less well equipped than its rival’s, it is much larger….This has left the Saudis feeling abandoned and vulnerable.
Turkey’s Troubling Entry into Syria
Turkey’s strategic objective is not to “crush” ISIS. It is to crush the most effective part of the anti-ISIS coalition: the Syrian-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and People’s Protection Units (YPG).