80 Items

Dr. Amanda Sloat presents at the Harvard Kennedy School

Benn Craig/Belfer Center

Analysis & Opinions - Future of Diplomacy Project

Conversations in Diplomacy: Amanda Sloat

| Feb. 06, 2018

In this installation of the 'Conversations in Diplomacy' podcast, Dr. Amanda Sloat, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Affairs at the State Department, for a conversation on U.S.-Turkey relationship and the future of Syria with Faculty Director Nicholas Burns.

A picture taken on February 21, 2016 in a southern district of Tehran shows campaign posters of candidates running for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iran.

Getty Images / Atta Kenare

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

The real threat to Arab countries is from within

| February 20, 2016

"One of the fascinating dimensions of political life across the Middle East region in recent generations has been the repeated Arab concern that some non-Arab power has hegemonic plans to dominate the entire region and rob the Arabs of their identity and rights. This applies mainly to the three principal non-Arab powers in the region — Israel, Turkey, and Iran. It is useful therefore to consider the past and current condition of these three, in order to determine if indeed they have the desire or capability of achieving hegemonic control over Arab societies..."

A video image of New York Times Journalist Anthony Shadid who died in Syria of an asthma attack in February 2012.

Getty Images / Joseph Eid

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

Remembering Anthony Shadid

| February 17, 2016

"How the unfolding events in northern Syria play out may well set the tone for things to follow in this region for years to come, given the many wars now taking place there among global, regional and local powers. Amidst this unprecedented situation of often desperate warring actors, I believe it is appropriate to remember this week the life and work of the late Anthony Shadid, who reported for the New York Times when he died in northern Syria exactly four years ago this week..."

Syrians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following reported air strikes by regime forces in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, on August 30, 2015.

Getty Images / Abd Doumany

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

Complexities and perplexities in the Arab world

| February 13, 2016

"Syria is the place that still captures the complexities of statehood and society challenges in the Middle East, which tend to elicit perplexities in the policies of most foreign powers. This is partly a function of political geography that goes back millennia, and is not peculiar to our time. Many regional and world armies in the past five millennia — Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Persia, Crusaders, Egypt, Parthia, Ottomans, France, Great Britain, and Islamic dynasties — have repeatedly occupied this land, fought over it, or sought to control it through local proxies."

Syrian man comforts a boy amid the rubble of buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on February 4, 2016.

Getty Images (Thaer Mohammed)

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

Aleppo’s frightening reminder of wider threats, and older glories

| February 10, 2016

"Aleppo today is frightening almost beyond description and comprehension. One of the world’s ancient centers of civilization is bombed, sieged, tortured, and starved to death, and hundreds of thousands of fleeing refugees do not know if they will find shelter or live another week. Even then, Aleppo is not the most frightening thing we have to understand these days in this realm of modern urban warfare."

Opposition fighters belonging to Jaish al-Islam (Islam Army), the foremost rebel group in Damascus province who fiercely oppose to both the regime and the Islamic State group, check their ammunition belts in Tal al-Aswan in the area of the eastern Ghouta

AFP/ Amer Almohibany

Analysis & Opinions - Agence Global

Intriguing opportunity and dangers of ground forces in Syria

| February 6, 2016

"This week was full of omens that Syria in its already fractured and suffering condition should look forward to more misery, due to the actions of Syrians as well as foreign powers, amidst slow-moving negotiations for ceasefires and a future political transition. The most intriguing sign of things to come was the official announcement that Saudi Arabia is willing to provide ground forces to fight “Islamic State” (ISIS) in Syria, if the anti-ISIS countries that will meet in Brussels this month agree on a coordinated ground-and-air strategy."