Arab Belt Settlers Made Up About 5% of Hasakah, and Up to a Fifth of Its Border Countryside
Fifty-two years after the Regional Command of the Ba’ath Party, then Syria’s ruling body, issued Decision 521 on 24 June…
Turkish bases are thinning Kurdistan’s border woodland, satellite data show, but far less than claimed
Trucks carrying freshly felled timber have been filmed leaving the mountains of northern Amedi district, in Duhok province, for Turkish…
Iraq’s Armed Factions Win the U.S. Withdrawal and Keep Their Weapons for Now
The last U.S. troops leave Iraq today, ending the mission of the American-led coalition against the Islamic State. For Iraq’s…
Written by
Arivan
As US Troops Leave Iraq, America’s Security Model in the Middle East Is Unravelling
US forces are leaving Iraq and Syria as Iranian strikes have broken the network behind America’s Gulf presence. Turkey, Iran and Israel will shape what follows, and the war has…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Peshmerga Unification Codifies the KDP-PUK Military Divide
The Kurdistan Region’s new military structure keeps the KDP and PUK hierarchies intact, gives each sweeping control over appointments and spending, and makes a single Kurdish army harder to build.…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Syria Needs to Rebuild an Army. Turkey Wants to Build the System.
Israel has grown increasingly concerned about Turkey’s military role in the new Syria. Much of that concern has focused on the most immediate threat: Turkish troops, prospective bases and advanced…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
What Syria, Iraq and Turkey reveal about the scale of the global energy shock
On 14 September, Syria saw its largest protests since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Demonstrators burned tyres, blocked the Damascus-Aleppo highway and stopped fuel tankers after the government raised…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Baghdad Drops Disarmament for Reorganisation as Iran Opens Hormuz to Iraqi Crude
Iraq’s oil exports have risen sharply over the past month even though the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily restricted. Exports rose from around 1.35 million barrels per day in July…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
The PKK Is Rebuilding Its Media as a Civilian Political Network
The PKK-aligned movement has spent the past eighteen months restructuring its media network around audiences and languages rather than around the armed struggle. The latest step came in August 2026,…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Damascus Moves From Nominal to Physical Security Control in Hasakah
New on the SDF-Damascus integration agreement: Yesterday and today, a sizable number of Damascus-linked Syrian Interior and Defence Ministry personnel entered Hasakah city in preparation for taking over the city’s…
Read More (3 min. read)