Middle East & North Africa

Stephen Walt asks what makes for a good ally? What are the qualities that make a foreign power an especially valuable partner and therefore justifies a U.S. security commitment? After all, not all allies are created equal, and the value of any commitment is likely to wax or wane over time.

The ruthless Syrian dictator is guilty of countless war crimes—and regrettably represents his country’s least bad remaining option.

Transactions are a normal part of building military coalitions. That is a reality of world politics. But making them work requires having social and political networks in place to ensure the agreement is actually put into action. With the Kurds, the United States has cultivated ties over the past decade — resulting in successful cooperation against the Islamic State. By abandoning the Kurds, Trump is throwing away these decade-long investments. Further, memories of U.S. abandonment may well make it impossible to ever reactivate those networks.

The American betrayal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) bears an uncanny resemblance to what happened in Kirkuk two years ago. The geopolitical dynamics are strikingly similar: Turkish hostility to Kurdish aspirations, American intransigence and unwillingness to support the Kurdish allies they relied on to defeat the Islamic State, resulting in a win for Iran.

For years, Turkey’s government allowed Islamic State fighters to cross its territory into Syria. But, before Monday, there were no Islamic State fighter elements along Turkey’s border with Syria because Kurds, Arabs and Christians expelled them with help from the U.S. military. Today, these U.S. allies are running for their lives.

Stephen Walt summarizes his analysis of how impeachment proceedings will affect the foreign policy of Donald Trump: His administration's decisions will be erratic, ill-considered, and ineffective—in other words, business as usual.

A change of government in Israel may create room for a US policy rethink.

Ambassador Nicholas Burns speaks to CNN's Jim Sciutto about the Iran crisis.

Stephen Walt writes that getting a new nuclear deal with Iran won't be easy—but the U.S. president's utter lack of principle could help guide the way.

Trump's critics say that lack of success means the president is going to the United Nations in a weakened position.