Tag: Qatar

Critical Context on the U.S. Airstrikes in Syria

A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched against Islamic State targets in Syria from the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke in the Red Sea.

The Obama Administration has just announced that they and their coalition allies have begun a fierce campaign of airstrikes in Syria, bombing primarily “hard-targets” in the IS stronghold of Raqqa (about 20 of them). Here’s what is known—and perhaps more importantly—what is not known so far: “Sunni Arab” Partners The U.S. was the only non-Arab actor to participate in the… Continue reading Critical Context on the U.S. Airstrikes in Syria

The Arab Spring’s Third Wave

Insofar as it is helpful or accurate to understand the “Arab Spring” as a meta-movement which began with the December 17, 2010 self-immolation of Mohammad Bouazizi, we can break it into a few significant “waves.” The first wave of revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt were quick, peaceful and orderly, relative to the second wave with… Continue reading The Arab Spring’s Third Wave