Iraqi, Kurdish and American forces are advancing on Mosul from various directions, and more in our global news round-up.

Next Cold War Roundup 8/26/16 Operation Euphrates Shield, a battle to take the town of Jarablus from ISIS included Turkish and American military, Turkish-backed Syrian opposition rebels, and the operation may have changed everything in the Syrian war. VP Joe Biden went to Turkey with copious praise and denials on

Next Cold War Roundup 3/16/16 Geneva talks are on. Russia does a surprise semi-withdrawal from Syria, leaving a well equipped Syrian coalition but increasing pressure on Assad to compromise. The US brings to the table a weakened position on the ground but a threat of a Turkish invasion and the

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 1/27/16 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