World | Security Watch | Backchannels
Syrian 'safe' zone: What does that really mean?Even as the US and Turkey agree on trying to drive the Islamic State away from the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, there are as many agendas as there are players trying to shape the conflict.
Is the Iran nuclear deal like Munich 1938? Not really.Such comparisons not only make little historical sense, they also demonstrate how minor the Iranian 'threat' is compared to Nazi Germany.
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Iran deadline blown again: why the arms embargo is tough to solveWhatever the merits of Tehran's case, lifting the 2007 UN embargo on the sale of conventional arms to Iran is just not going to fly in the United States.
Europe asks Greece to climb Mount Everest. By Wednesday.Greece has been handed politically difficult, and technically complex, choices on a very short timeline.
For Greece and the EU, now it really is crunch timeWith bankruptcy looming, Greece has issued only vague 鈥� and contradictory 鈥� proposals. And Europe seems unwilling to budge.
Yemen's civil war isn't as bad as Iraq and Syria. Yet.The humanitarian crisis is deepening and the chances of a political solution soon seem very slim.
The Greece 'no' vote. No money, few options, and a lot more problems.With about half of the votes counted, a referendum defeat for a European bailout plan for Greece looks certain. While the news touched off partying in Athens, the hangover will prove painful.
On the management and expansion of savageryWhile the jihadis of the Islamic State hope their reputation for brutality will deter their enemies, another group's snuff video shows that what has happened instead is an expansion of viciousness and cruelty.
Islamic State's strikes in Egypt: Is this a full-blown insurgency?Terrorism is nothing new in the Sinai. But it has evolved in a more dangerous direction for Egypt, and President Sisi's tactics don't seem to be working.
With Cairo assassination, Egypt's cycle of violence turns darkerA wave of repression by the Sisi regime the past two years has been matched by a rise in Islamist attacks. Following the car bomb in Cairo Monday, both sides are likely to up the ante.
Friend or foe? US lines up with Shiite militias and former Sunni rebels in IraqOverlap with such forces shouldn't be a surprise: America's wars in Iraq have required painful compromises all along.
New US rules on ransom payments unlikely to trigger windfall for militantsThe US has never prosecuted a citizen for trying to obtain the release of an abductee by making payments. But official policy remains that no concessions will be given to hostage-takers.聽
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