Next Cold War 2/19/16 Last week’s deal by the International Syrian Support Group (ISSG) in which they agreed to work to expedite aid to besieged areas of Syria and work on a cessation of hostilities succeeded in getting more aid trucks and an arrangement for airdrops but the group struggles

Next Cold War Roundup 2/17/16 Obama’s Harsh Remarks for Russia _ At the ASEAN conference, Obama received questions about recent advances by the Syria-Russia coalition.  His position sounds very much like a return to the aggressive, neocon + interventionist blend that had been toned down in the past month or

Next Cold War Roundup 2-15-16 The Munich Security Conference, which turned into a summit for negotiations and discussions on the broadening and escalating Syrian war, concluded with an agreement to work on cessation of hostilities and humanitarian aid for beseiged areas — an agreement that few have confidence will change

Next Cold War Roundup 2/12/16. The Syrian war continues to become more complicated and escalates. The International Syria Support Group in Munich agreed to form a task force with dual goals of cessation of hostilities and humanitarian aid to besieged towns.  At the same time NATO defense ministers are meeting

Next Cold War Roundup 2/10/16. Kerry Rebukes Syrian Civil Society Activists at Cocktail Reception Hosted by Prince Charles During Syrian Donors Conference in London. _ Over the weekend, Middle East Eye reported about a sideline conversation between John Kerry and some “aid workers” at a cocktail party reception hosted by

  Next Cold War Roundup, 2/5/16. Turkey Preparing for Invasion of Syria? _ Russian defense ministry says developments on Turkish-Syrian border “give serious grounds to believe Turkey is preparing to invade Syria.  Russian officials have been doing a ground inspection of Turkish military activities in one zone in coordination with

Next Cold War Roundup 2/3/16 Geneva 3 peace talks are faltering. Both parties admit they never fully began. The Syrian army and coalition advance in northwest Syria intensifies.  The map above shows the encircling of the critical city of Aleppo. Two Shiite enclaves besieged for 3+ years by the opposition were freed which

Next Cold War Roundup 2/1/16 Syrian Peace Talks After delays and controversies, the Geneva 3 Syrian peace talks are proceeding, despite many experts’ doubts that they would ever get started or produce any useful results.  The Saudi-backed High Negotiating Committee arrived in Geneva after receiving some assurances from the US

Next Cold War Roundup 1/29 Turkey Threatens to Enter War on Syrian Border. _ The Times in UK claims that Russia is working on a deal to create a Kurdish “enclave” and the Times frames this as a Russia provoking Turkey: “Kremlin provokes Akara with deal to secure Kurd enclave“:

Next Cold War Roundup 1/27/16 Syrian Peace Talks Delayed. Opposition Groups Still Undecided on Attendance. _ Syrian “opposition” has three main categories: Sunni groups organized by Saudi Arabia into something called the “High Negotiation Committee” (HNC), Syrian Kurds (YPG) and Syrian political groups. The HNC contains some jihadist groups that