Rex Tillerson

March 25, 2021 | Mark Dubowitz, Aykan Erdemir

Manhattan Court Gave Erdogan’s Pet Bank a Get-out-of-Jail-Free Card

Turkey’s currency is in free fall. International investors are fleeing the country. Accusations of bribery and support for terrorism abound. And something clearly is rotten at the heart of the Turkish...

July 27, 2020 | Aykan Erdemir, John Lechner

Trump Should Teach Erdogan a Lesson in Law, Not Corruption

The president offered to help Turkey’s strongman beat U.S. courts, John Bolton has revealed. It only helps Iran.

January 1, 2020 | Clifford D. May |

Nikki Haley, all-American

She’s also a loyal and principled neo-Trumpian, which makes some people angry

October 24, 2019 | Jonathan Schanzer, Aykan Erdemir

Trump’s Turkey problem

In what may well have been the shortest duration of sanctions in modern history, President Trump on Oct. 23 lifted all of the sanctions he had imposed on Turkey just nine days earlier for “escalating...

October 17, 2019 | David Adesnik, Aykan Erdemir

Trump’s first mistake in Syria was ever trusting Erdogan at all

President Trump’s deficient understanding of Muslims, many of whom are at the forefront of the fight against radical Islamism, leads him to see threats where none exist. It also prevents him from recognizing...

July 13, 2018 | John Hannah |

Putin Sees Trump as an Easy Mark on Syria

As U.S. President Donald Trump approaches his July 16 summit in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, there’s much speculation that Syria will be near the top of the agenda. Trump is repo...

May 4, 2018 | Reuel Marc Gerecht

The Iran Deal Is Strategically and Morally Absurd

It was surely Barack Obama’s profound aversion to the use of American military power that so enfeebled his nuclear diplomacy and made his atomic accord with Iran the worst arms-control agre...

April 9, 2018 | Varsha Koduvayur

Trump should confront Qatar on its support for Hamas in upcoming White House meeting

As Qatar’s leader – Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani – prepares for a White House ...

April 9, 2018 | Alexandra N. Gutowski, Varsha Koduvayur

Retail Therapy: Isolated Qatar Hopes Spending Will Spur New Alliances

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani is set to visit the White House on April 10 where he will ...

March 26, 2018 | |

The U.S. Should Clarify Its Position on Third-Party Participation in Syrian Reconstruction

Forces fighting on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russian air power, have all but...

March 23, 2018 | Mark Dubowitz |

With John Bolton, the Iran deal ‘nixers’ have an upper hand over the ‘fixers’

My long-standing hope for a fix to the fatal flaws of Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal may have just gone on life support with the appointment of John Bolton as President Trump’s nati...

March 13, 2018 | Reuel Marc Gerecht

Pompeo faces challenges from North Korea, Syria and Iran

President Trump’s announcement Tuesday that he has removed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and will nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to head the State Department will likely leave Pompeo...

March 13, 2018 | Aykan Erdemir

Turkish Prosecutor Seeks Life Sentence for U.S. Pastor

A Turkish prosecutor today demanded a life sentence for U.S. Pastor Andrew Brunson on charges of &...

February 23, 2018 | Romany Shaker

Egypt Launches Massive Anti-terrorism Operation ahead of March Elections

In a surprise move, Egypt launched a massive anti-terrori...

February 20, 2018 | Tony Badran

Rex Tillerson Babbles in Beirut While Middle East War Looms

Sec. of State Rex Tillerson visited Lebanon last Thursday, and let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a shining moment for U.S. diplomacy. Tillerson was made to sit...

February 14, 2018 | Aykan Erdemir, Merve Tahiroglu

Handling Turkey’s Erdogan: What Washington can learn from Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin knows to handle his fellow authoritarian leaders; he relentlessly applies leverage to extract concessions. This is a lesson that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson...

February 13, 2018 | Aykan Erdemir, Merve Tahiroglu

Tillerson Goes to Turkey amid Sanctions Talk in Washington

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to visit Turkey o...

February 11, 2018 | Jonathan Schanzer, Tony Badran

The Iran-Israel War Flares Up

The conflict between Israel and Iran may be heating up after a half-decade simmer. On Friday night Iran dispatched a drone from Syria that penetrated Israeli airspace in the Golan Heights. Israel...

February 6, 2018 | David Adesnik

Syria and Russia Test Trump’s Red Line on Chemical Weapons

Just days after an explicit warning from Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Syria has...

January 30, 2018 | Varsha Koduvayur

With Strategic Dialogue, the U.S. Can Hold Qatar Accountable on Terror Finance

Today, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, along with their Qatari counterparts, will co-chair the inaugural...