Turkey-U.S. relations are at a new low and it should not come as surprise to anyone that Trumpian foreign policymaking has a lot to do with it. It was less than a month ago that President Trump snubbed most European […]
Turkey-U.S. relations are at a new low and it should not come as surprise to anyone that Trumpian foreign policymaking has a lot to do with it. It was less than a month ago that President Trump snubbed most European […]
The past week in Turkish-American relations was probably the worst period since the 1974 Cyprus crisis and the arms embargo. For the first time in decades of relations, the U.S. put sanctions on two Turkish ministers and then in a […]
Turkish-U.S. relations have been going through rough times for the last few years. In multiple instances in this column, the alarming degree of deterioration in relations was pointed out. However, even the most pessimistic observers of bilateral relations did not […]
There are so many possible scenarios regarding what happened behind closed doors between American and Turkish officials over the last few weeks. There have been rumors of negotiations, bargaining, misunderstandings, and unexpected and unprecedented heightening of discourse on the part […]
The U.S.-Turkey relationship has always been subject to ups and downs, including the Cold War years. This was one of the themes covered in a conference on the legacy of the July 15 coup attempt organized by SETA DC. The […]
One of the most discussed issues in Washington, D.C. nowadays is the Iran strategy of the Trump administration. There are too many questions and concerns about the U.S. policy toward Iran following the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Joint […]
On June 13, SETA Foundation at Washington DC hosted the event “The Trump Administration’s Post-JCPOA Iran Policy.” The discussion focused on US-Iranian interactions in the future as well as US relations with its European and Middle Eastern allies. The panelists […]
Dealmaking and negotiation are two critical aspects of leadership. Especially for political leaders, it is extremely important to have a strategic approach to dealmaking. In the increasingly complex international environment, a rising number of variables can influence the process. Thus […]
U.S. foreign policy has been the topic of many articles in this column. In the last few years, the absence of a clear, comprehensive and long-term strategy has been the weakest aspect of U.S. foreign policy. Without the guidance of […]
President Trump delivered a major campaign promise by pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and left everyone wondering what the new Iran policy would be. Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attempted to answer that […]
The US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to establish an embassy there is the most consequential American diplomatic action to address the Israel-Arab conflict in half a century.
On May 22nd, the SETA Foundation at Washington DC hosted an event on “The Implications of the US Embassy Move to Jerusalem.” The discussion focused on what the move of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem means for future […]
There were two images broadcast to the world last week that illustrated the end of the U.S. role in the Middle East peace process as we know it. The contrast between celebratory images of the opening of the U.S. embassy […]
In the last two weeks, two moves of U.S. foreign policymakers have demonstrated the basic problems of their strategy, potentially challenging Washington’s own interests and international relations. U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and […]
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal will be a critical cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. For the last few decades, debates about the future direction and orientation of U.S. foreign policy have dominated the […]
President Trump is widely expected to walk away from the Iran nuclear deal by refusing to issue a sanctions waiver this week. One of Trump’s central attacks on the Obama administration has been the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) […]
Sometimes the biggest challenge for policy makers is not the diagnosis of the problem, but the lack of a proper strategy to fix it; nowadays one of the biggest hurdles in Washington. After failures, errors, mistakes and deliberations, there is […]
For years now there has been a debate about the future of the international system. Especially after the Iraq War some members of the international community started to feel nervous about the irresponsible unilateral use of force by the U.S. […]
The U.S. strikes on Syrian chemical weapons facilities have delivered the Assad regime a strong message but a very narrow one. Assad can continue to attack the Syrian people with conventional weapons without fear for the end of his rule. […]
After a week full of speculations and discussions, the US-led coalition conducted limited airstrikes against the Syrian regime’s chemical weapon production and storage sites on Friday evening. President Donald Trump made a statement explaining the rationale of the military strikes […]
It has been a week since the most recent chemical weapons attack in Syria. On Thursday, it was reported that an investigation confirmed the presence of a chemical weapons attack on the civilians in the country. Since the spread of […]
Assad is at it again. His regime used chemical weapons against civilians in Eastern Ghouta, which has been under attack for weeks. It was about a year ago that Assad used chemical weapons to which President Trump responded with a limited […]
It was August 2012, then U.S. President Barack Obama during a press conference at the White House responded a question in regards to the allegations of the chemical weapon movements in Syria. He was very straightforward in responding to the […]
In the recent past, the foreign policy decision-making mechanism in Washington, D.C. probably has never been this complicated. In the last week, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that he is willing to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, the complexity […]
It was only in January when former Secretary of State Tillerson announced a Syria policy with several goals (ensuring no return of Daesh, countering Iran, and the return of refugees) but with no clear strategy to achieve them. President Trump made his […]
The U.S. and Turkey have been pursuing conflicting strategies in northern Syria for a while now. Turkey adamantly pursued to end the U.S. support for the YPG while the Trump administration has seen the group as its “local partner” in […]
The latest departure from the Donald Trump administration is National Security Adviser Gen. H. R. McMaster. It was announced Thursday that McMaster will be replaced by John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. McMaster was considered one of […]
President Trump’s dismissal of Rex Tillerson via a Twitter message together with the appointment of Mike Pompeo to head of the State Department has raised many questions about the future course of U.S. foreign policy. So far, the Trump administration […]
In a 2016 book “How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from Pentagon,” while mentioning the increased blurring of the border between war and peace, Rosa Brooks also wrote about the U.S.’s increasing use of military instruments […]
The quote “Great power rivalries are first and foremost contests for allies” is from a book on alliances written by Weiss A. Mitchell, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and last year reviewed in the Wall Street Journal […]