er  After roughly two years of being on the defensive, Syria’s rebels are making dramatic gains in the north of the country. In the span of six weeks, coalitions of insurgent fighters captured the city of Idlib and won a series of key strategic victories elsewhere in the governorate. In the face of the opposition, the Syrian Army and its supporting militias appear at their weakest point since early 2013. However, while much of the subsequent commentary proclaimed this as the beginning of the end for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, we are still a long way from that. In fact, the regime…

Depuis que « le projet néo-ottoman » du Parti pour la justice et le développement [AKP] mené par Recep Erdogan est devenu évident, coïncidant avec l’incapacité des États-Unis et d’Israël à mener ouvertement leurs guerres pour briser la Syrie en tant que maillon central de l’Axe de la Résistance englobant l’Iran, le Liban et la Palestine, le Moyen-Orient est entré dans la tourmente d’un violent séisme à répétition. La Turquie, forte de…

  SACRIFICE: A woe-is-me claim by office-seekers who lament the hardships they’re supposedly enduring – in an entirely voluntary endeavor.   Consider Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who recently made out his 2016 Republican presidential bid to be an act of self-sacrifice. In a fundraising e-mail, Cruz complained of time away from his wife and two young daughters, plus the financial burden it was imposing.   Cruz told of his sacrifice of “sleep with long nights and constant travel. And the pizza diet is a staple on the campaign trail.” He added, “The cost of campaigning back and forth across the…

دمشق ـ أ ف ب ـ اعلنت عشائر سورية الجمعة رفضها الدعم الذي اعلنه العاهل الاردني عبد الله الثاني والذي رأت فيه نية بتسليح العشائر، مؤكدة ولاءها للحكومة والجيش السوريين. وجاء هذا الموقف ردا على ما نقلته وكالة الانباء الاردنية الرسمية “بترا” الاثنين عن الملك الاردني لجهة تأكيده “واجب” الدولة الاردنية في “دعم العشائر في شرق سوريا وغرب العراق”، في اشارة واضحة الى المناطق التي يتواجد فيها تنظيم الدولة الاسلامية. وقالت العشائر السورية في رسالة وجهتها الى العاهل الاردني وتلاها شيخ قبيلة طي، محمد فارس العبد الرحمن، ْ في مؤتمر صحافي عقد في دمشق، “علمنا عبر وسائل الاعلام مضمون تصريحاتكم التي تعلنون فيها نواياكم…

Memo: Our   Winning Strategy in EuropeFrom: Russian Strategic Planning CellTo: President Vladimir Putin 1. Let me begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, on our outstanding series of strategic moves in Europe. We have consolidated our annexation of Crimea, which now finds its rightful place back as part of Mother Russia. Your series of “snap exercises” all around the periphery of our country have clearly frightened NATO. Additionally, the brilliant concept of “hybrid warfare,” combining the deployment of Spetsnaz special forces, additional Russian troops and trainers in unmarked uniforms, vigorous propaganda, information warfare, and cyberattacks has everyone’s attention. And NATOfreely admits it is not ready to…