Disruptions and Challenges in the Middle East
Significant challenges await the Trump administration’s attention.
İncirlik Cumhuriyet
Why Is The U.S. So Keen To Get Turkey Back Into The F-35 Program?
Ankara has and is taking visible steps to decouple itself from upholding the values and security priorities of the NATO alliance.
Op-eds
Erdogan’s Damning Response to the Hamas Attacks
Turkey’s president is widening the gulf between Ankara and her Western allies and partners.
Op-eds
Is Turkey Getting Tough On Terrorism?
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently announced that Turkish forces had successfully neutralized the current leader of the Islamic State (IS), Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi following a raid on...
Op-eds
With S-400 Escalation, Turkey Tests NATO
Turkey reportedly conducted an expected live-fire test on Friday of its Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system. The test represents a troubling milestone in the steady deterioration of Ankara’s relationship...
Policy Briefs
Turkish-Qatari Alliance Threatens Washington
Turkish-Qatari partnership in the Middle East will strengthen Islamist extremism and threaten American interests in the region, new think tank report finds
Press Releases
The Pastor is Not the Only U.S. Hostage in Turkey
Turkish-American relations are at a boiling point. This month, the United States not only ...
Op-eds
Jordan Poised to Be Middle East Partner of Choice, but Must Improve Internal Security
Jordanian troops parachute and fast-rope from a pair of Blackhawk helicopters, descending on insurgents as t...
Op-eds
German-Turkish Relations Continue to Deteriorate
The fractured Berlin-Ankara relationship has been hit by perhaps its biggest diplomatic crisis, resulting in Berlin’s...
Policy Briefs
It’s Time for NATO to Call Turkey’s Bluff
Thursday's NATO Summit provides an opportunity for the alliance to get tough on its putative Turkish ally. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's destabilizing polici...
Op-eds
Study: US Needs A Contingency Plan To Move Bases Out Of Turkey
Despite Turkey’s strategic role in U.S. defense policy, the military needs to have a contingency plan to move its bases out of the country, according to a recent study by a Washington, D.C....
Op-eds
Russia’s Middle East Offensive
Even before Russian bombers launched strikes into Syria from an Iranian air base last month, it was clear that one of President Barack Obama’s more dubious foreign policy legacies would be...
Op-eds
U.S., NATO Should Develop Contingency Plans to Move Military Bases Out of Turkey, FDD Report Finds
Washington, D.C., August 29, 2016 -- Amidst a recent spike in anti-American sentiment in Turkey since the failed coup d'etat in July, and owing to myriad foreign policy disagreemen...
Press Releases
Despite Coup Failure, Turkish Democracy Still at Risk
The Cipher Brief: It’s been about a week since the failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erodgan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led g...
Op-eds
Turkey’s Strongman Will Exploit The Failed Coup
Turkey may have thwarted a military coup d’etat on Friday night, but the result will almost certainly be the precipitous decline of Turkey’s democracy...
Op-eds
The jihadis in France, the Islamists in Turkey
Streets ran red with blood in both France and Turkey last week. A terrorist atrocity and an attempted coup are quite different events. But underlying both is this question: How are the most dynam...
Op-eds
The Fight Against ISIS Will Suffer Because of Turkey’s Coup
The failed coup in Turkey will set back global efforts to combat the Islamic State. For one, trust between Ankara and Washington is at an all-time low. A Turkish minister ...
Op-eds
Notes on a Failed Coup
For your consideration, several observations regarding Turkey’s failed coup: By any measure, the incompetence of the coup plotters was simply flabbergasting. They...
Op-eds
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Erdogan?
Houston, we have a problem. A serious problem. Slowly, but inexorably, Turkey is headed off a cliff. The signposts ahead are bleak indeed. Despotism. Terrorism. Civil war. Just over the horizon,...
Op-eds
America’s Dangerous Bargain With Turkey
After a year of intense diplomatic negotiations, the Turkish government is now permitting the United States to use Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, which will allow American aircraft to fly...